Google hit with multimillion-pound UK tax bill

  • 24/01/2016
Google hit with multimillion-pound UK tax bill

After a long battle with British tax authorities, Google has agreed to pay a multimillion-pound back tax bill.

However, some feel the internet giant isn't paying anywhere near what it should.

It's where we turn to find out what we need to know, but for years tax inspectors struggled to find out what Google needed to pay.

A multinational earning billions, it insisted that much of its business wasn't done in London. The offer now of £130 million in back payments has been hailed by the Chancellor as a victory.

Figures show that in the first five of those years of back payments, its UK revenue was around £12.6 billion, whereas its corporation tax payment for the period was just £11.2 million.

And when two years ago Google's sales in Britain reached £3.8 billion, it paid £20.4M in taxes.

Google's Europe boss was savaged by MPs when he defended the company's practices, and last year a new tax was introduced to clamp down on multinationals.

It may be some time before everyone feels that the technology giant is really paying its fair share.

Watch the video for the full ITV News report.