Fury at Apple’s £11m tax bill on £10billion sales

APPLE faced fury l ast night after it was revealed that it paid just £11.4million in British corporation tax last year – despite sales of a record £10.5billion. The US technology giant rakes in billions selling its high-end gadgets but funnels its sales through Ireland to minimise its UK tax bill.

Yesterday MPs s ai d t he practice, which is also used by Google, was ‘less than honest’ and called on the company to pay more.

Last year, Apple was hauled in f ront of the US Senate to account for its American tax affairs. It has even been criticised by i ts own shareholders for hoarding £87billion in offshore accounts – again to avoid tax.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the influential Public Accounts Committee, said: ‘It is completely outrageous. Everybody knows that they manipulate their financial accounts so that they don’t pay tax on the profits they make here.

‘It’s disappointing that the UK Government isn’t as assertive as governments elsewhere over what are obviously less than honest ways of accounting for the money they make.’

Apple’s 2013 corporation tax payment of £11.4million is even lower than what it paid two years ago, show accounts published yesterday at Companies House. In 2011, it paid £13.6million.

Apple UK Limited, its sales and marketing arm, last year recorded sales of £100million and profits of £41.5million. Staff in Apple’s sales arm also enjoyed

‘Close these loopholes’

an 11 per cent pay rise last year, documents show. The average salary per employee rose from £110,000 in 2012 to £122,000 last year. Its retail division Apple Retail UK Ltd, which runs its 37 high street stores, posted £900million in revenue but only a profit of £18million. But the true figure for its UK sales – and therefore its profits – is more than ten times higher than either figure.

Although Apple never discloses the exact amount, analysts say 10 per cent of its global sales are in Britain – which would add up to an astonishing £10.5billion.

John O’Connell, director of TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Our tax code is over 17,000 pages long, so it’s small wonder that those who can afford expensive advice will always be able to cut their bills. If politicians are serious about closing these loopholes they should stop grandstanding and simplify taxes.’

A spokesman for Apple said last night it is ‘extremely proud’ of its ‘many contributions to the British economy’ and ‘as always, we pay every pound of tax we owe’.