Apple’s £10m tax bill – on sales of £1.2billion

APPLE’s UK retail arm raked in £1.2bn from sales last year but only paid £10m in tax.

The US technology giant’s tax bill fell by more than a quarter for the year to September 30, accounts published yesterday showed. This was despite profits nearly doubling to £31.8m. Campaigners argue Apple and other tech giants use complex schemes to minimise its tax bills.

For years it concentrated profits in low-tax Ireland, but the European Commission recently ruled the arrangement amounted to billions of pounds in illegal state aid. The accounts for Apple Retail UK Ltd yesterday showed that its overall tax bill was reduced by a £2.1m tax credit.

A spokesman for HMRC last night said it did not comment on the tax affairs of individual companies. Apple said the lower tax bill was because of accounting changes related to the depreciation of assets.