Amazon UK Services paid more money to Fife council last year than it did to the Treasury in corporation tax, it has emerged.

According to a Freedom of Information Request, seen by MailOnline, in has paid £400,000 more to one Scottish council than it did in corporation tax to the UK government.

Fife council said it received £2.1million in 2018 from Amazon, while the firm's UK arm paid £1.7million in a tax on its profits.

Amazon said it paid taxes according to the law.

An spokesman told Mirror Money: “We pay all taxes required in the UK and every country where we operate. 

"In May 2015, to ensure we had the best business structure to serve our customers going forward, we established a local country branch of Amazon EU Sarl in the UK, with all retail revenues, expenses, profits and taxes due now accounted for in the UK."

Amazon pointed out that corporation taxes, which are based on profits, only make up a small amount of the total tax it pays – which came in at £63 million last year.

"Corporation tax is based on profits, not revenues, and our profits have remained low given retail is a highly-competitive, low margin business and our continued heavy investment," the spokesman said.

"We’ve invested over £9.3 billion in the UK since 2010 including in 2017 opening a new head office in London alongside development centres in Cambridge and London.

"Last year we created 2,500 permanent jobs across the country in research and development, our head office, customer service and fulfilment centres, to bring our total workforce in the UK to over 27,500.”

What Amazon has paid Fife council

The Dunfirmline distribution centre was the main reason Amazon paid out to Fife Council, but not the only one.

There was also a £1,200 charge for setting up Amazon lockers at Wemyssfield service station and Kingsgate.

Amazon employ around 1,500 staff on a permanent basis at the centre in Dunfermline, and adds to that with as many as 4,000 seasonal jobs to help cover the busy Christmas and New Year period.

This is what Fife has been paid by Amazon in the past three years, according to the Freedom of Information request:

• 2018 – £2,073,588 for its Dunfermline distribution centre; £1,200 for lockers in Wemyssfield and Kingsgate
• 2017 – £2,016,216 for its Dunfermline distribution centre; £8,509.58 for a service site in Halbeath; £391.71 for lockers in Wemyssfield and Kingsgate
• 2016 – £1,925,760 for its Dunfermline distribution centre

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