Jeremy Corbyn to vow a crackdown on multinational tax dodgers in Amazon depot protest
2 min read
Labour is set to announce a crackdown on the “tax and wage cheat” culture of multinational companies in a demonstration outside an Amazon depot today.
During the event in Yorkshire, Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Employment Rights Secretary Laura Pidcock will promise new legislation to take on tax dodging corporations.
The Labour leader will also accuse some multinationals of using “our weak laws to rip off both the taxpayer and their workers”.
To tackle the issue, Labour plans to bring in a unitary taxation of multinationals to stop tax avoiding profit shifting if they win the election on December 12.
Other measures include increasing HMRC audits, scrapping non-dom status and introducing a 20% levy on property purchases by offshore companies.
In total, Labour claims that these actions will raise £12.5 billion by the end of the next Parliament.
Speaking today outside an Amazon depot, Mr Corbyn will say: “The next Labour government will deliver real change because we aren’t afraid to take on the corporate giants and the elite few, who are hoarding wealth and power.
“Huge multinational companies often act as if the rules we all live by don’t apply to them. They use loopholes to claim they don’t owe tax and cynically push their workers to the limit.
“I don’t want to live in a country of a few billionaires and millions of stressed people, worried about making ends meet every month.”
Mr Corbyn has previously written to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to demand that the company pays more tax.
An Amazon spokesperson dismissed the accusations, claiming it complies with all current tax laws and invest heavily in jobs and businesses in the UK.
Amazon reportedly paid only £1.7 million in corporation tax in 2017, despite declaring pre-tax profits of £72 million the same year.
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