London: After being accused of carrying out ‘immoral tax practices in the UK’, US-owned coffee chain Starbucks has finally caved in to pressure and will now hand over 10 million pounds to the British authorities.
Starbucks was accused by British MPs of acting ‘immorally’ after it emerged that it has hardly paid corporation tax since opening its first shop in the UK.
According to the Daily Mail, the company grips one third of the UK coffee market, but recorded no taxable profits last year and so did not have to pay any corporation tax.
Since 1998 the company has enjoyed 3 billion pounds in sales, the paper said.
Although their new payment of up to 10 million pounds will be seen as a victory for the Government, it is only a tiny proportion of the amount of cash Starbucks generates in the UK, it added.
The report said it is understood that the coffee shop has based its proposed tax bill on rival Costa.
Two years ago Costa paid around 15million pounds on profits from its 1,500 shops, and this will probably rise by another 3million pounds this year.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, December 06, 2012, 13:05