Amazon’s European web store division has paid no tax for 2021. Bloomberg reported this based on documents it could view.
The European part of the American company had a turnover of 51.3 billion euros last year but had a deficit of 1.2 billion euros below the line. As a result, the company would not owe any income tax. It would also have received a tax benefit of 1 billion euros.
The turnover of the Luxembourg-based European retail branch increased by 17 percent year-on-year. Amazon EU Sarl includes revenues recorded in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Sweden.
Amazon has been under a magnifying glass from European regulators about its taxes. The Seattle company previously won an appeal over a $250 million tax bill. Regulators imposed this because they believed that agreements with Luxembourg in 2003 amounted to illegal state aid. The second-highest court in the European Union disagreed. So the European Commission appealed.
The documents Bloomberg saw provide rare insight into Amazon’s regional finances. In 2021, the group made a worldwide profit of USD 33.4 billion, compared to USD 21.3 billion a year earlier. However, the company does not break down e-commerce profits and revenues by country.
Amazon says in response to pay corporate taxes throughout Europe. It would be hundreds of millions of dollars. The tax benefit of 1 billion euros that Amazon would enjoy would have to do with the settlement of losses as allowed by the rules.
