Google tax payment of €172m branded ‘derisory’

Google has agreed to pay £130m (€172m) in back taxes to Britain, prompting criticism from opposition politicians and campaigners who said the “derisory” figure smacked of a “sweetheart deal”.

Google, now part of Alphabet Inc, has been under pressure in recent years over its practice of channelling most profits from European clients through Ireland to Bermuda, where it pays no tax on them. In 2013, the company faced a UK parliamentary inquiry after a Reuters probe showed the firm employed hundreds of salespeople in Britain despite saying it did not conduct sales in the country.

Google said the £130m would settle a probe by the British tax authority, which had challenged the company’s low tax returns for the years since 2005. It said it had also agreed a basis on which tax in the future would be calculated.