In wake of Covid-19 it’s time to force the tech giants’ hands on tax
They’ve been making donations – $800m in the case of Google – but a report by TaxWatch says this amounts to a mere fraction of the money salted away in tax havens, says James Moore
At a time when tech companies are attempting to show what good corporate citizens they are, TaxWatch UK has turned a welcome spotlight on the corporation tax they pay, or rather, the lack of it.
The investigative think tank, founded and part funded by Julian Richer, of Richer Sounds fame, counted $1.2bn (£950m) in donations made by eight large companies over the two weeks to 8 April, either by direct cash grants or through the offer of free services.
They range range from an $800m package announced by Google to the free use of software for coronavirus researchers made available by Nvidia.
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