Facebook UK pays just 5.1million pounds in tax

London: Despite a massive surge in revenue in its UK operations, Facebook paid only 5.1 million pounds in corporation tax last year, media reported on Wednesday.

According to The Guardian, Facebook UK revenues were up from 210.8 million pounds to 842.4 million pounds last year.

The profits were 58 million pounds -- compared to 52 million pounds -- in 2015.

"But its UK corporation tax only rose to 5.1 million pounds from 4.2 million pounds a year earlier, and once deductible expenses were applied, the company only paid 2.58 million pounds," the report noted.

In April 2016, Facebook began booking more advertising income via its UK office instead of in Ireland, BBC reported.

Facebook and some other tech firms like Apple came under scrutiny last year for using the "Double Irish" method to drastically reduce tax burdens.

"Last April, we actively chose to reorganise our company structure to record revenues from our large UK sales customers in the UK," a Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying.

"We believed this would provide greater transparency on our operations in London and be easier for people to understand. These accounts reflect that change," the spokesperson added.