Calls In UK For Amazon Boycott Amid Tax Tussle

The UK government’s favorite cloud provider has come under fire in tax controversy. Amazon, the parent company of AWS, has, once again, been in the crosshair for its tax arrangements in the country.

As revealed in its Company House filings, the company’s corporation tax halved in 2016 to just £7.4 million, on sales of £1.4 billion in the United Kingdom.

And this has prompted calls from Margaret Hodge MP, former chair of the Parliamentary Accountants Committee to boycott the company. Vocal critic of how companies are taxed in the UK, she described these revelations as outrageous.

Amazon, nevertheless, maintains that it pays all taxes required in the UK, and every country they operate in.

Even as Amazon Web Services, the cloud arm of the firm, is becoming increasingly popular with UK based companies and government departments.

AWS has two datacenters in the United Kingdom, and a number of government departments us its services. Department like the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, and the Ministry of Justice are already customers.

The Home Office is also considering a switch to the world’s leading cloud provider.

And on top of all this, a number of organizations in the public sector have already taken, or are in the process of taking a similar route. Organizations like BP, OakNorth Build, and Deliveroo are but a few of the big names that AWS counts as customers.

Nevertheless, the pressure is mounting on technology companies like Amazon, as there is no shortage of voices that claim that the taxes these firms pay are not a fair deal for taxpayers.

One such voice is the current chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Meg Hillier, who recently said that governments are always one step behind tech firms in tracking taxes.