Amazon has paid UK corporation tax for the first time in four years

The group’s UK Services arm paid £18.7m in “current tax” last year on sales of £27bn after the tax break brought in by Rishi Sunak ended.

Amazon received a £7.8m tax credit in 2022 and a £1.1m credit the year prior after its investments in infrastructure meant it could take advantage of the initiative.

Its British businesses made £27bn in 2023 with Amazon revealing it paid £932m in “direct taxes” to include business rates and corporate tax. The amount paid equates to around 3.45% of its turnover.

It said its other UK divisions paid some form of current tax in both 2022 and 2023.

In a blog post, Amazon said it is the sixth biggest taxpayer in the UK, but it has previously faced criticism over the amount of tax it pays in the UK due to the size of its operations.

An Amazon spokesperson said: “As we continue to invest in our UK operations and workforce, we help fund public services and vital infrastructure, and create jobs throughout the country.

“Amazon ranks in the top 10 largest taxpayers in the UK for direct taxes, taxes we collect, and our overall total tax contribution – which was more than £4.3bn in 2023.

“We invested £12bn across the UK in 2023 alone, creating an additional £10bn benefit to UK GDP, and we are also one of the top five capital investors in the country and a top 10 contributor to business rates.”