Apple sales hit £1.4bn in UK – but it pays just £6.2m tax

‘Surpluses shifted to Ireland’

APPLE’s UK retail arm paid just £6.2million in tax last year – despite raking in £1.4billion in sales.

Its annual bill was up from £3.9million, newly published accounts show.

But it still represented just 0.5 per cent of the tech giant’s sales over the period, which increased from £1.2billion in 2018.

Profits at the company also surged during the year to september 28, from £33.7million to £39million.

Last night, campaigners accused Apple of minimising its dues using complex accounting methods.

Apple, which employs 5,000 staff in its UK retail business, insists it is ‘the largest taxpayer in the world’ and pays everything it legally owes. But Paul Monaghan, of the Fair Tax campaign, said: ‘Apple’s latest filings demonstrate that there has been little change in their tendency to pay low levels of corporation tax in the UK, with surpluses shifted to the likes of Ireland and other lowtax jurisdictions.’

Campaigners have long argued that Us technology companies use complex schemes to minimise their tax bills in countries such as the UK. For years, Apple did this by concentrating its European profits in low-tax Ireland.

But the European Commission ruled the firm’s arrangements actually amounted to billions of pounds in illegal state aid and ordered the Irish government to recoup the money. Ireland and Apple reject that claim and are appealing against the decision.

However, Apple has been forced to start repaying the cash into a pot that will be ring-fenced until the legal battle is over.

At the same time, attempts to impose tougher tax regimes on tech companies in the UK and France have been met with anger by Us President Donald Trump, who claims that they unfairly target American firms.

Britain’s ‘tech tax’, which came into force on April 1, applies to all internet firms that have global revenues of more than £500million.

It will levy 2 per cent of their sales of digital services in the UK.

The Apple accounts published yesterday cover a period before the introduction of the new tax.

However, documents were also released showing that Apple UK, the firm’s research and development arm, paid £9.1million in tax in the year to september, down from £15.2million previously.

That was after sales rose from £241.2million to £296.6million but profits fell from £91.4million to £26.7million, as the company embarked on a hiring spree.

Its workforce rose from 473 to 926 over the period.

Yesterday, an Apple spokesman said: ‘As the largest taxpayer in the world, we know the important role tax payments play in society.

‘We are very proud of our many contributions across the UK.’