Technology firms including Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon have pleaded that they should not have to pay a newly-imposed UK digital services tax.
Trade body TechUK, which represents hundreds of technology companies in Britain including the four giants, said the Government should ‘look again’ at the new levy.
It has asked for ‘a bit more breathing space’ by liabilities being delayed for a year, with the tax expected to generate £440million for the Treasury.
But the plea was criticised today as a ‘shameless’ attempt to exploit the coronavirus pandemic which has already resulted in more than 11,000 deaths in Britain.
Members of staff stand outside the Apple Store on Regent Street in London on March 14 as they tell customers that the shop is shut in response to the coronavirus pandemic
The 2 per cent tax came into force this month as the Government tries to clamp down on profits and cash being moved to countries with lower tax levels.
It will affect at least 30 firms with more than £500million of global revenues, but TechUK said it fears more companies will be caught by the tax than intended.
The new levy will mean California-based Google alone will see 2 per cent of its £1.6billion sales in the UK taxed, bringing in an extra £32million for the Treasury.
But the firms have asked that payment should be delayed as the pandemic stretches their resources and provokes concerns about future revenue, reported The Times.
TechUK deputy chief executive Antony Walker said: ‘HMRC now expects many more companies across the sector to begin allocating resources to determine liability.
Packing and processing at an Amazon fulfilment centre in Peterborough in November 2017
‘This is all at a time when, due to Covid-19, resources are stretched and future revenue is uncertain. The Government is creating a large degree of uncertainty.
‘It would therefore be wise to seek to look again at how the tax has been designed and how and when it should be implemented.’
But George Turner, director of investigative think tank Tax Watch UK, said: ‘It is pretty distasteful to see lobbyists attempt to use this unfolding tragedy to extract millions from the taxpayer on behalf of their very wealthy clients.’
And Alex Cobham, chief executive of campaign group Tax Justice Network, added: ‘This is completely shameless of the tech companies — even by their low standards.’
Paul Monaghan, chief executive of tax transparency campaign group Fair Tax Mark, told MailOnline the move by TechUK is ‘reminiscent of the two-faced whisperings in the shadows of Big Tobacco over recent decades.’
The Google offices for its UK arm at Granary Square in London are pictured in November 2018
He added: ‘They are lobbying in the UK to kill the digital services tax, which is already pretty weak-kneed at just 2 per cent of income.
‘TechUK is even demanding that the US multinational tech giants should be exempt from the proposals for a new minimum corporation tax in each country, which is designed to undermine the tax dodging of the silicon giants and their use of tax havens.’
However a source at one of the tech giants said it was ‘really surprised’ by TechUK’s announcement and it was not something their company wishes to be drawn into.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is currently working to develop a new international framework for how digital companies are taxed.
Google and Apple declined to comment to MailOnline this morning, while Amazon and Facebook have also been asked for their response.
Last week it emerged Google paid only £44 million in corporation tax in the UK last year while its staff in Britain earned an average of £234,000 per person.
Its UK arm spent more than £1billion on pay and bonuses in the year to the end of June 2019, up by a quarter from the £829million figure in the previous year.
Google’s UK operation is mainly used as the marketing and sales division of its European operation, which is headquartered in Dublin, where taxes are lower.
On Saturday, Google and Apple announced a joint effort to help public health agencies worldwide leverage smartphones to contain the pandemic.
New software the companies plan to add to phones would make it easier to use Bluetooth technology to track down people who may have been infected.
The idea is to help national, state and local governments roll out apps for so-called ‘contact tracing’ that will run on iPhones and Android phones alike.
The technology works by harnessing Bluetooth signals, with contact-tracing apps gathering a record of other phones with which they came into close proximity.
Such data can be used to alert others who might have been infected, after the phones’ owners get the app and agree to share data with public health authorities.