Amazon is under investigation from UK tax authorities over its corporation tax contribution.
The company reportedly recorded sales of more than £7.6bn in the UK over the last three years without paying corporation tax.
The company said it is being probed in a filing with US financial regulators but does not disclose how much tax it pays in Britain, The Bookseller reported.
The etailer’s UK business Amazon.co.uk is classed as a service company and as such provides services to its parent company based in Luxembourg where the rate of tax is lower.
A filing made in the US states that “effective tax rate in 2011, 2010 and 2009 was lower than the 35% US federal statutory rate, primarily due to earnings of our subsidiaries outside of the US in jurisdictions where our effective tax rate is lower than in the US.
“Such earnings primarily relate to our European operations, which are headquartered in Luxembourg.”
HM Revenues & Customs has not confirmed whether it is Amazon and the investigation could be a routine audit.
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