Ebay pays just £1.6m UK tax on £1bn sales

After scandals at Facebook, Airbnb and Uber . . .

EBAY paid just £1.6m in UK corporation tax last year despite making £1bn in sales.

Newly published accounts for the internet auction giant’s UK arm reveal that it booked just a fraction of its takings in this country.

Earlier this year it reported to US investors that its UK business made revenues of £1bn in 2016.

But accounts released yesterday show that the firm’s main UK arm booked revenues of £200m over the same period. It made a profit of £7.7m and paid £1.6m of corporation tax.

This division makes its money from advertising and marketing, while fees charged to users for website listings are instead booked through Luxembourg and Switzerland.

In the company’s US accounts bosses bragged that deals struck with the authorities in these countries saved it £233m last year.

The details of the low tax bill in the UK come after Facebook, Uber and Airbnb also faced criticism in recent days.

Last night pressure was mounting on the Government to extract more cash from tech companies.

Sir Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: ‘This is the same old story we see time and time again – they are making monkeys out of us.

‘We need to find a better way of taxing large corporations for the activities they conduct here, as a matter of urgency.’

Paul Monaghan, chief executive of campaign group Fair Tax Mark, called for an urgent overhaul of tax rules in the UK. He said: ‘The figures are simply breathtaking. Our politicians have got to do something about it.’

Ebay is the latest high-tech multinational to have its tax affairs thrown into the spotlight. European regulators have hit back with a crackdown, and in the past month Amazon was ordered to pay back more than £220m it was judged to have saved in a deal with Luxembourg authorities. And Ireland is being forced to recoup more than £11bn owed by Apple.

Ebay UK chief Rob Hattrell insisted it paid its dues, telling Sky News: ‘We pay all our tax in all jurisdictions. You have to look at broader contributions we make – the people we employ, and the businesses we employ.’ Ebay said: ‘In all countries and at all times, Ebay is fully compliant with national, EU and international tax rules.’

A Government spokesman said: ‘Last year we brought in an extra £8bn for our vital public services by cracking down on large multinationals that tried to avoid paying their fair share of tax.’