Couple lose thousands in Amazon scam

Online giant Amazon has revealed it paid £781m in direct taxes last year, a leap of more than £130m from the previous year, as it continued its rapid UK expansion.

The global marketplace and technology firm said it invested more and generated higher revenues during 2022.

With a workforce of 75,000 in the UK and more than 100 warehouses and offices, Amazon benefited from a surge in demand for online deliveries during the pandemic, ramping up its operations and going on a recruitment drive to cope with more customer orders.

The direct taxes the firm must pay includes business rates, corporation tax and employer national insurance.

The bill rose to £781m from £648m in 2021.

Including indirect taxes like VAT, Amazon said it paid more than £3.6bn in total contributions last year, a huge jump from the £2.7bn paid the previous year.

It ranks in the top 15 largest UK taxpayers for overall total tax contribution, according to data from PwC.

It came as Amazon saw its revenues surge to a new record high of £24bn, an increase of £1bn year-on-year.

The business has invested more in infrastructure as it continued its growth across the UK.

More than £1.6bn was spent on investments including fitting warehouses with the latest robotics technology and opening a new development centre in Swansea.

The tech giant said it was “proud of the significant economic contribution we are making to the UK economy”.

The announcement comes after Amazon revealed that it will let parents and grandparents who work in its UK warehouses work only during term time.

The moves comes amid a battle over pay and conditions with the GMB union, which is fighting the firm for recognition.

Amazon said the new contracts would guarantee those who care for school-age children, including guardians, time off during school holidays, including six weeks in the summer, plus two weeks at Easter and Christmas.

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Amazon said it had trialled the contracts at three sites after worker feedback and these were being phased in across all of its fulfilment centres, where employees store, pick and pack products.

They will be rolled out to sorting centres and delivery hubs across the UK this year.

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