Google UK chief defends company’s tax efforts

Tech giant Google will “always pay the tax it is required to pay” in the United Kingdom, the company’s UK managing director has said.

Ronan Harris told ITV’S Good Morning Britain on Tuesday that the firm paid “around the same amount” of tax globally as other similar-sized companies across all industries.

But he said a “bone of contention” around the issue appeared to be with the “vast majority” of its tax being paid to the US state of California, where the company’s head office is located.

He said the amount of tax the firm should pay in the UK was a “matter for the UK Government to set”.

Google paid £44 million in corporation tax in the UK last year, and handed out more than £1 billion in pay and bonuses to its 4,439 staff in the country, according to accounts.