Google tax deal was ‘disproportionately small’

MPs say it is impossible to judge whether the Google tax deal with HMRC was fair to taxpayers but they agree that the £130m settlement was unduly small.

After hearing from senior officials at both organisations the public account committee (PAC) found the sum ‘disproportionately small when compared with the size of Google’s business in the UK reinforcing our concerns that the rules governing where corporation tax is paid by multinational companies do not produce a fair outcome’.

In a report  Corporate tax settlements (tinyurl.com/jlp4odb) the committee said HMRC should ‘lead the way in pressing for changes in international tax rules to prevent aggressive avoidance by multinational companies’. To achieve this the Revenue should consult widely on the case for changing rules that protect corporate taxpayer confidentiality ‘to make the tax affairs of multinational companies open to public scrutiny’.

Noting that the French and Italian...