Anger over Amazon’s £3m tax bill on UK sales of £4.2bn

AMAZON has received almost twice as much in Scottish taxpayer-funded grants as it paid back to the UK in tax.

The internet shopping giant was given £5.9million by Scottish Enterprise to help build a huge distribution warehouse in Dunfermline, Fife.

But Amazon disclosed that last year it paid only £3.1million in total taxes in the UK on sales of £ 4.2billion – and it paid no corporation tax in 2011, the year it received the grant.

Last night, there were calls for the grant to be repaid amid a row which is a major embarrassment to Alex Salmond, who uses Amazon as an example of the investment his government has secured in tough economic conditions.

The Scottish Government promised more than £10million of

‘End handouts

urgently’

taxpayers’ cash to help entice Amazon to set up a Scottish base. Amazon announced i t was investing in Scotland in early 2011 and its distribution centre opened at Dunfermline later that year.

The firm created more than 750 jobs at the facility and announced plans for 900 jobs at an Edinburgh customer service centre. So far it has received £6.1million, with more promised once training and jobs targets are met.

Alison Johnstone, Scottish Green MSP, said the tax row should prompt the Scottish Government to ‘urgently end its handouts and demand a complete refund’.

She added: ‘Amazon clearly have no intention of playing fair when paying tax but are happy to take millions from the public purse in Scotland.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said Amazon’s Scots sites make ‘a significant contribution to local economies’.

Amazon refused to discuss its tax affairs but said it ‘pays all applicable taxes in every jurisdiction that it operates within.’