Cadbury’s corporation tax bill leaves a nasty taste

Analysis: There is a regular cycle of outrage from the public and promises from ministers that they will crack down on ‘profit shifting’. So why, asks Ben Chu, does nothing seem to change

Mini Eggs; even smaller tax bill (Getty/iStockphoto)

Well if that doesn’t take the biscuit.

Not only have we been forced to watch Cadbury – a venerable British institution founded by Quakers – get swallowed by a maker of “American plastic cheese” but now it turns out that that new owner isn’t even paying any corporation tax here in the UK.

According to its accounts, Mondelez UK – which owns everything from Cadbury Fingers to Dairy Milk chocolate bars, as the UK subsidiary of Mondelez International – had a decent year in 2017. Turnover crept up to £1.66bn in 2017. But profits soared to £185m, from £22m in 2016, thanks to a dividend from some other downstream companies in the group.