Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Cadbury’s grandson slams tax bill shock
US owner ‘shames noble founders’ Lessthanbuttons* ebay coughs up £7m more in tax
A MEMBER of the Cadbury family has blasted the chocolate maker’s American owner for “playing the system” to dodge a UK tax bill.
James Cadbury, 33, also said his ancestors would be “disappointed with the way [the firm] was now being run”.
He spoke after the Mirror revealed food giant Mondelez paid no corporation tax last year on its biggest UK business – despite its profits soaring to £185million.
James is the greatgreat-greatgrandson of founder John Cadbury, whose son George was driven by his
Quaker beliefs to THE UK arm of auction website ebay has agreed to pay an extra £7million in backdated tax after a review by HMRC.
In 2016 it paid £1.6million in corporation tax on profits of £7.7million, and £5.2million on profits of £20million in 2017. Sales last year nearly trebled to give staff better conditions. He said: “Cadbury as a family were always about principles and ethics. They were philanthropic, giving huge amounts back.”
Asked about Mondelez UK’S tax bill, he added: “There are a lot of multinationals playing the system.”
James, whose branch of the family had not been involved in the business for years, quit his job as a City trader to start his own chocolate business, Love Cocoa, in 2016. It aims to tackle issues in the cocoa industry including deforestation and farmer poverty – and has pledged 10% of its profits to the Rainforest Foundation.
He said: “It is in my DNA to give something back.” £585million. The £7million payment covers tax liabilities for previous financial years. HMRC said it “has a very strong track record on challenging contrived tax arrangements”.
ebay said it complied with laws and rules of every country it worked in.