Shein reaches £1bn in UK sales with tax bill of just £2.3m
Fast fashion giant Shein has made over £1bn-worth of sales within the first two years of its UK presence.
The company made £1.1bn of turnover and £12.2m in profit in the 16 months to December 2022, but incurred a tax bill of only £2.3m, according to a report in The Sunday Times which cited company accounts.
The newspaper reported that the sales figure was equivalent to £80m for each of its 14 UK employees.
The Chinese fast fashion giant, which is known for selling clothing at extraordinarily low prices, has grown rapidly in Europe over the last few years, with it keeping costs down partially by shipping all goods to UK customers’ homes, rather than using UK distribution centres.
However, the company has recently established warehouse space in the UK, and is set to employ 50 people in the UK by the end of 2023, according to The Sunday Times.
The retailer’s domicile has also been changed from China to Singapore as the company looks to float on the US stock market.
Last week, it was reported that Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group was in talks to offload its online clothing brand Missguided to Shein.
A spokesperson for Shein said: “Shein’s UK business paid corporation tax of £2.3m on profits of £12.2m in 2022, above the standard 19 per cent corporation tax rate. Shein is fully compliant with UK tax policies and pays applicable taxes including corporation tax, VAT and employment taxes.”