Amazon paid direct taxes of £932m to the UK government in 2024, as revenues jumped £2 billion to £29 billion.
The tech and retail giant saw direct taxes rise year-on-year by £151m, with these direct taxes (including business rates, digital services tax, and corporation tax) equating to just 3.45% of its turnover.
However, Amazon claims that its latest tax bill means it is the sixth biggest taxpayer in the UK, and is the second biggest retailer, behind Tesco. The company also pointed out that VAT and national insurance contributions from staff added £4.7 billion to the Government’s coffers. Amazon currently employs 75,000 people in the UK and has plans to hire thousands more in the coming years.
What is still unclear is how much profit Amazon is making in the UK and how much corporation tax it pays. The only thing we do know is that it didn’t pay any corporation tax in 2021 and 2022.
