Oh gosh, they have to pay payroll? My heart bleeds for them. So does every other company out there. You know exactly what I mean.

The point is that they could be paying zero corporation tax, and yet Amazon would be responsible for a stupid amount of tax being paid in the UK. But of course the corporation tax seems very low in comparison to their earnings, so it's an easy target to complain about.

I’m kind of blown away by the comments this is getting. Do people actually not realise that every other company also pays their employees and also happen to pay corporation tax? Meaning that comparatively Amazon is paying massively less? How is that point not getting across?

People realise. People either 1) don't care, or 2) like more competition in a market, generally leading to lower prices. Not having to make profits means Amazon entering a market often lead to lower prices in the shorter term.

Also, wealthy people (or those moderately well off) can avoid tax with a decent understand of tax law. So they might not care. Plenty of people only care about optimising their own returns on capital and effort invested. If I can sell a business for £10m and somehow pay no tax legally, vs selling and paying 20% capital gains tax -- I would always prefer to pay absolutely nothing. Shocker.

Last, I have a good understanding of local and international tax law, and while the system is somewhat broken, it's not massively broken -- steps are being taken internationally to fix major issues.

Can you elaborate on these steps?

Amazon makes it so easy to buy stuff that I might buy some things that I would never have bought otherwise, but for the most part, money spent on Amazon is money that would have otherwise been spent in another retailer, who probably pays wages, rent and corporate tax as well.

If Amazon left the UK, people would still buy nearly as much as they do now.

And all the VAT they collect on the products they sell which is surely into the billions. I certainly spend a lot more money than I might otherwise thanks to Amazon, so their impact on the tax base is a lot more nuanced than corporation tax alone.

You would have spent just as much on amazon if it paid it’s fair share of tax. I fail to see how their shareholders taking less profit would decrease your desire to consume.

Out of curiosity, what motivates you to defend a multinational company enriching itself at the direct expense of you? Of it being able to funnel billions of pounds away from your social services, your schools, your hospitals, your roads, your education system?

I'm not really defending Amazon, but I'm certainly playing down the importance of corporation tax. I think CT is a timid and outdated tax (for many of the reasons leading to this thread) and should be replaced by something else that keeps the taxes closer to the point of consumption. Tax large corporations in ways they can't avoid, not on profits they can manipulate with cross-border transactions.

Reducing tax paid is the duty of every person who cares about efficiency. It is not at our expense.