Amazon pays £781m in UK taxes as workforce and revenue swells

Online giant Amazon has revealed it paid £781 million in direct taxes last year, a jump of more than £130 million from the prior year, as it continued its rapid expansion across the nation.

The global marketplace and technology firm said it invested more and generated higher revenues over 2022.

With a workforce of 75,000 in the UK and more than 100 warehouses and offices, Amazon’s tax bill has amounted to billions over the years.

It benefited from a surge in demand for online deliveries during the pandemic, ramping up its operations and going on a recruitment drive to cope with more customer orders.

The direct taxes the firm must pay includes business rates, corporation tax and employer national insurance.

The bill rose to £781 million from £648 million in 2021.

Including indirect taxes like VAT, Amazon said it paid more than £3.6 billion in total contributions last year, a huge jump from the £2.7 billion paid the prior year.

It ranks in the top 15 largest UK taxpayers for overall total tax contribution, according to data from PwC.

It came as Amazon saw its revenues surge to a new record high of £24 billion, an increase of £1 billion year-on-year.

The business has invested more in infrastructure as it continued its growth across the UK.

More than £1.6 billion was spent on investments including fitting warehouses with the latest robotics technology, and opening a new development centre in Swansea in Wales.

The tech giant said it was “proud of the significant economic contribution we are making to the UK economy”.