NOW AMAZON TRIES TO CUT ITS RATES BILL

Anger as retail giant bids to pay less in Scotland

AMAZON has launched a bid to cut its business rates bill in Scotland.

The internet giant, which rakes in £9billion a year of sales in the UK, is due to pay around £3.3million for four of its most prominent Scottish sites.

But it can now be revealed it has lodged appeals for three of those sites, including its biggest UK distribution centre in Dunfermline, Fife, which reportedly handles dozens of sales a second at peak times of the year.

Amazon already persuaded valuation officers to slash more than £200,000 from its rates bill after appealing against the original valuation of the giant depot, which is the size of 14 football pitches.

Now it is seeking to reduce its bill again following a revaluation of its property carried out by official assessors last year.

Critics claimed that the firm appears to have a policy of ‘avoiding paying taxes’, while experts suggested comparatively lower rates for online retailers compared to ‘bricks and mortar’ firms could lead to the ‘extinction of

the high street’. The Scottish Daily Mail is campaigning for an overhaul of the system to ‘Save Our High Streets’.

The latest Amazon revelations come only days after it was reported that the web giant’s biggest UK arm paid a corporation tax bill of just £4.5million last year, down from £7.4million in 2016. This reduction happened despite revenues for this one division alone climbing by £500million to almost £2billion.

Scottish Labour economy spokesman Jackie Baillie said: ‘These reports are deeply troubling.

‘Not only does it seem Amazon is paying tiny amounts of corporation tax in the UK, but it seems the firm is trying to cut its business rates too. It appears that they have a policy of avoiding paying taxes if they can get away with it.’

The Scottish Daily Mail has established from public records Amazon has appealed the valuation of three main facilities: its Dunfermline centre, a distribution depot in Whitburn, West Lothian, and a workshop in Gourock, Renfrewshire.

When it was opened in 2011, Amazon’s Dunfermline facility was valued at £4.2million. This was cut to £3.78million after it appealed, which reduced its annual business rates bill by around £200,000. It has appealed again after a 2017 revaluation estimated the property was worth £4.1million, leaving it facing a £2.07million rates bill.

Amazon is also appealing last year’s revaluation of its Whitburn site, which saw its rateable value rise from £1.68million to £1.83million, which amounts to a £928,510 annual rates bill. The Gourock workshop is also under appeal.

It was valued at £545,000 in 2010 but this fell to £440,000 in 2011 after an appeal.

It opted to appeal again despite the rateable value falling to £435,000, after last year’s revaluation, which puts its rates bill at £220,110. A customer service centre in Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, is not under appeal but assessors cut the rateable value from £214,750 to £151,000 last year, meaning the rates bill is £76,406.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: ‘Authorities have repeatedly failed to get the global tech titans to pay their fair share of tax.’

The rateable value of a property is generally based on its estimated market rental value on the assessment date. Some critics want the system overhauled because they say the growth of the digital economy has left an uneven playing field on tax.

The Jenners store in Edinburgh saw its rateable value jump from £1.6million to £2.2million last year, while the city’s Harvey Nichols rose from £1.04million to £1.33mil- lion. Robert Hayton, head of UK Business Rates at property adviser Altus Group, said: ‘Bricks and mortar retailing is propertyintensive, leading to a larger tax to turnover ratio and, if left unchecked, could lead to the substantial extinction of the high street.’

Amazon said it has other premises in Scotland but declined to provide addresses for them. A spokesman said: ‘This research is misleading and inaccurate as it includes only a fraction of our total estate in Scotland.

‘Amazon pays substantially more in business rates to the Scottish Government than suggested by the research and our business rates bill increased in 2018. We pay all taxes required in the UK and every country where we operate.’

He added: ‘Corporation tax is based on profits, not revenues, and our profits have remained low given retail is a highly competitive, low-margin business and our continued heavy investment.’