$4.9 billion of sales occur in the UK, which is 10% of global revenue. However, only $29 million of corporation tax is payable to the UK - that's 0.3% - because Google lies and says that UK sales are actually Irish sales.
This deception occurs because basically 99.9% of the work is done in the UK, but the final signature on the sales contract is made in Ireland. This is from a Google whistleblower who was featured in the UK press.
Of course, the Irish subsidiary doesn't pay low corporate taxes on all this revenue, because it happens to have HUGE expenses in the form of intellectual property royalty payments, which need to be made to Google Bermuda (or whatever other tax haven they are using to hold the IP).
So really, Ireland is getting shafted too, just like the UK.
$4.9 billion of sales occur in the UK, which is 10% of global revenue. However, only $29 million of corporation tax is payable to the UK - that's 0.3% - because Google lies and says that UK sales are actually Irish sales.
This deception occurs because basically 99.9% of the work is done in the UK, but the final signature on the sales contract is made in Ireland. This is from a Google whistleblower who was featured in the UK press.
Of course, the Irish subsidiary doesn't pay low corporate taxes on all this revenue, because it happens to have HUGE expenses in the form of intellectual property royalty payments, which need to be made to Google Bermuda (or whatever other tax haven they are using to hold the IP).
So really, Ireland is getting shafted too, just like the UK.