London: Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has said the company will pay more tax if the British tax laws are changed, and added that it does not treat paying taxes as optional but mandatory.
Google has been criticized for allegedly evading taxes revealing payments of 3.4 million pounds in tax on 3.2billion pounds of sales to customers in Britain last year, with sales technically accounting for under the low-tax regime of Ireland.
According to Tan English newspaper, Schmidt continued to defend the company`s tax payments and said that he was perplexed with the debates surrounding the issues as the company has been paying taxing as per law.
He said if the British government wants to have more taxes, it should change its law. Adding that the company had a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders, which prevented it from paying more taxes abroad.
Schmidt suggested that it is the political decision of the government to settle on tax limits. If the taxes go up, the company will pay more, if they are low the company will pay less.
The executive chairman added that under American Law Google has fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders to properly account for things.
If the company randomly decides to pay taxes differently it would be held accountable by its shareholders in other countries, the report added.
ANI
