LONDON: Google’s UK chief has defended the search giant’s tax arrangements in a hearing before MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee.
Matt Brittin said he understood public anger about the amount of tax it paid.
However, he said Google was paying 20% tax on its UK profits, not the 3% figure cited in some reports.
The £130m in UK tax it paid for the 10 years from 2005 was reached following a “six-year rigorous, independent tax audit” by HMRC, Mr Brittin said.
Tom Hutchinson, Google’s global tax chief, told MPs that the company did not negotiate its tax settlement with HMRC.
He told the committee that the tax authorities did not “throw out a number – it’s not a negotiation”, adding: “There was no top-line figure; that’s not how the process works.”
The £130m payment included £18m in interest, Mr Hutchinson told MPs, but no penalties or payments under the government’s diverted profits tax – also known as the “Google tax”.
