It’s official -- Amazon pays less tax than independent booksellers.
The company pays less than 1/10th the amount of its British high-street competitors, exploiting complex tax laws to get away with as little as possible.
Those taxes help pay for our schools, hospitals and other vital infrastructure that Amazon relies on to keep its business running.
Enough is enough: we can’t let companies like Amazon get away with not paying tax, no matter how big. It’s simply not fair on the rest of the industry and its not fair on us.
Amazon: pay your taxes!
This isn’t the first time Amazon has made headlines like this -- not even this month. The retail giant cut its UK tax bill in half from the previous year -- despite recording a turnover of £1.3 billion.
It’s not just in the UK that Amazon isn’t paying its taxes: accounts reveal the firm paid just £15 million on revenues of almost £20 billion in the EU.
British booksellers are struggling with around 3% closing year-on-year. Figures from the Bookseller’s Association show there are currently 867 independent booksellers in the UK -- around half the number that existed 11 years ago.
We can’t let giant corporations like Amazon ride roughshod over local businesses -- then refuse to pay any tax for the privilege.
Amazon: pay your taxes!
Time and again, hundreds of thousands of SumOfUs members have stood up to Amazon -- whether they’re not paying taxes, funding hate speech, or stopping workers from unionising, SumOfUs members like you have let Amazon know what you think.
It’s so important we hold the corporation to account on this issue. If a giant like Amazon can’t get away with it, it will help set a precedent and send a message to other companies to pay up.
More information
Independent. 13 September 2017.
The Guardian. 12 September 2017.