Tech giant Google once again hit back at criticism over its corporate tax structure today, arguing that it was up to government to modify the rules if it wanted companies to pay more tax.
“We pay all the tax that we are legally required to in every country that we operate,” said Dan Cobley, Google UK and Ireland’s managing director.
Governments set the rules by which companies operate so “if they don’t like how we play – they need to change the rules,” the Google-glasses clad MD added.
Google insists that tax incentives offered by the Irish government were a key cause for the tech giant’s decision to set up its European HQ in Dublin. The company also claimed that favourable tax arrangements were a key drivers of innovation and growth.
The rebuttal comes after months of growing pressure over Google’s tax receipts, which revealed that the firm had paid just £8m in UK taxes, despite making £6bn in revenue in the six years to 2010.
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