Facebook set to pay more British tax after criticism

Josephine Wallace
18:13, Mar 4, 2016
Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.
Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.

Facebook is to pay millions more in tax after overhauling its structure, the company has confirmed.

A Facebook spokesman said: 'On Monday we will start notifying large UK customers that from the start of April they will receive invoices from Facebook UK and not Facebook Ireland.

Facebook said in a statement that from April, "U.K. sales made directly by our U.K. team will be booked in the U.K., not Ireland". The company is now part of Alphabet a holding group, and in January agreed to pay $184 million in back taxes to the UK.

The aim of the new law was to tax the profits that were earned in Britain but reported in the different tax havens through use of contrived corporation setups. What's different is that in the past, these companies may have been thinking how to restructure their business to reduce their overall tax charge in response to such a rule change. Facebook has probably scored not only some positive public opinion with this move, but also possibly a future investigation from the UK Government itself.

In 2014, Facebook paid $6,643 in corporation - or business - tax in the U.K, less than the almost $8,000 in tax that the average British worker paid.

The changes to Facebook's tax structure apply only to the amount it will pay going forward and does not address past concerns.

Google is facing its own issues over tax across the 28-member bloc, as French and Italian authorities investigate, while Apple, whose worldwide operations are run from low-tax Ireland, is at the center of a lengthy inquiry by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, about whether it received a preferential - and potentially illegal - tax deal from the Irish authorities.

The British government has said it may reopen its tax settlement with Google if it appears that HMRC has "settled for less corporation tax than other countries are willing to accept.".

"The out-dated tax system is simply not suitable for the modern, global economy and leaves the tax liabilities of multinationals open to honest dispute".

When will we get our money?

.

In 2017, Facebook will pay a higher tax bill - reportedly, into the millions, though Facebook has not released figures on the size of its United Kingdom business.

Appeals court to hear oral arguments in 'Deflategate' case
Kessler countered, saying that the Patriots quarterback had a routine of destroying old cell phones out of privacy concerns. This marks the first time the sides were in court since August of 2015 when they engaged in settlement talks before Berman.

Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.


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