The UK arm of e-commerce giant Amazon paid a total of £492 million in taxes last year, as sales jumped by 50 per cent to £20.6 billion.

In 2019, total revenues of Amazon’s activities in the UK reached just £13.7 billion.

The company, which like other tech firms pays tax on profits rather than sales, reaped the benefits of the shift to online shopping during the pandemic.

A report from The Guardian emphasised that Amazon UK Services, the company’s logistics and warehouse business, paid only £3.8 million extra corporation tax last year despite sales increasing by nearly £1.9 billion.

Total revenue for the logistics arm was £4.85 billion, up from £2.96 billion in 2019, while pre-tax profit jumped from £102 million to £128 million.
But Amazon said that it was “proud” of its economic contribution to the UK.

"Looking ahead, we know that the UK remains full of opportunity and we continue to be excited by the potential to continue to invest, create jobs, develop talent and have a positive impact in communities across the country," it said in a statement.

Amazon’s activities in the UK are on the rise, with a further 10,000 permenant roles announced in 2021, taking the total workforce to over 55,000.

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