Amazon wins £3.2m tax refund from council

AMAZON is to receive a multimillionpound tax rebate after winning a legal case about the size of one of its warehouses.

The retail behemoth is expected to secure a refund of around £3.2m on the commercial rates it has paid on its premises at Gazeley Park in Rugeley, near Stafford. Cannock Chase council said the refund will “severely deplete” its resources for this year’s budget.

The rates charged by the council are calculated based on a square metre basis of “relevant” facility space. However, Amazon has successfully argued that its mezzanine floors did not count as floor area.

The refund will be backdated to 2011, when the site was opened. The distinction has reduced the rates Amazon will be charged by 26pc, bringing its annual liability for the site down to £1.25m from £1.7m, according to calculations from the council.

Gordon Alcott, deputy leader of the council, said that Amazon was a “highly valued employer” but that the reduction in rates was a “major blow”. Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Business, said that Amazon was in a position to “wage a costly legal case against an unfair business rates bill”.

He added: “The story is completely different for small firms that do not have the resources or time to fight cases where they feel they are being unfairly charged.”

A spokesman for Amazon said the company had made “a total tax contribution of £793m during 2018 – £220m in direct taxes and £573m in indirect taxes”.