44 billion euros in the item “revenues” and 0 euros in the item “taxes to be paid”. With these decidedly positive numbers, the 2020 budget of the European branch of Amazon closes. To reveal (and publish) the accounts of last year of the ecommerce giant was the British newspaper The Guardian which, on its pages, analyzed the record turnover of Jeff Bezos’ company.
But how was it possible that a giant with a turnover of 44 billion – even 12 more than in 2019 – could not pay even one euro in taxes to the tax authorities of Luxembourg (country where it is based)? Despite a 30% increase in revenues, Amazon EU Sarl has filed losses of 1.2 billion euros, which would allow the company not only to be exempt from taxes, but also to accrue a tax credit of 56 million on any future profits.
The reaction of the EU Commission
An initial reaction from the European Commission was not long in coming, but chose the line of caution on the case of the American group: “We have seen what has appeared in the press, we do not go into details, in general the Commission has adopted a very ambitious agenda in in the field of taxation and against tax fraud, in the coming weeks we will publish a communication and on a global level we are engaged with international partners in the ongoing discussion ‘on fair corporate taxation’.
From Amazon: “We pay taxes”
Also on the pages of the Guardian there is the reply of a company spokesperson who stresses that “Amazon pays all the taxes required in every country in which it operates. Corporate taxes are based on profits and not revenues and our profits have remained low due to massive investments and the fact that ours is a highly competitive sector with low margins ».
The Silicon Valley company manages branches in Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Poland and Sweden from Luxembourg.