London – A UK parliamentary committee is to invite Google to testify on a back tax deal in which it will pay 130 million pounds to settle claims covering a 10-year period, an official said. Meg Hillier, the Labour Party chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, tweeted at the weekend she would call Google, to explain the “cosy deal”. The opposition Labour Party had earlier described the tax deal as derisory. Google, now part of holding company Alphabet Inc and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs were not immediately available for comment.
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Corporate tax avoidance has prompted anger in recent years among citizens who question whether the burden of paying to combat the financial crisis was evenly shared. A study conducted by accountants PricewaterhouseCooper for the 100 Group, a lobby body representing around 100 of the biggest UK companies, showed their combined corporation tax bill was half 2010 levels in 2015, despite rising profits. Google’s tax deal brings its total UK tax bill over the period to around 200 million pounds. Google’s tax bill is reduced because its European profits were allegedly channeled to Bermuda. (Reuters/NAN)