Amazon European retail arm paid no taxes on €51bn of sales in 2021
Amazon’s European retail arm reported losses of €1.16bn (£963m) in 2021 meaning the company was not required to pay income tax.
The Luxembourg-based unit was able to claim €1bn in tax credits despite sales revenue exceeding €51.3bn, Bloomberg first reported.
Amazon EU sarl, which includes revenues from e-commerce activities in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands, did not have to make a tax payment to Luxembourg’s government after sales jumped 17 per cent last year.
A spokesperson for Amazon told City A.M. that the company was not legally required to pay taxes because it made a loss after investing heavily in European jobs and infrastructure.
“Across Europe, we pay corporate tax amounting to hundreds of millions of euros,” the spokesperson told City A.M..
“Corporation tax is based on profits, not revenues, and last year Amazon EU Sarl made a loss as we opened more than 50 new sites across Europe and created over 65,000 well-paid jobs, taking our total European permanent workforce to over 200,000”, the spokesperson continued.
The Bezos owned company has drawn the ire of EU regulators over its tax arrangements.
In September, news that the tech giant paid just £492m in direct UK taxation in 2020 despite sales jumping to £20.6bn prompted public backlash.
In May 2021, Amazon toppled the EU’s attempt to slap the company with a €250m tax bill after regulators accused the company of receiving unlawful state aid in Luxemborg.
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