Amazon has said it paid more than £1.3 billion in UK taxes last year, as higher labour and business costs helped push up the total bill by at least a fifth.
The online marketplace is one of the UK’s biggest employers, despite making a series of layoffs globally in recent months.
The company said its taxes for 2025 increased by at least 20% from more than £1 billion in 2024.
The direct taxes the company must pay include corporation tax, business rates, employer national insurance and digital services tax.
It is understood that a national insurance rate hike, which came into effect in April last year, helped increase the firm’s total bill, while it also paid more in corporation tax and business rates last year.
The company did not pay any corporation tax in 2021 and 2022 because of the “super-deduction” tax break introduced by former Conservative chancellor Rishi Sunak, which was later reformed.
Amazon does not disclose how much it paid in each tax.
Furthermore, the total amount of tax collected, such as VAT, which customers pay on products they buy, or the national insurance contributions of its staff, came to about £5 billion, from £4.7 billion the previous year.
The online giant employs about 75,000 people in the UK in roles such as warehouse workers, delivery drivers, and corporate and technology positions, making it one of the ten biggest private employers.
However, layoffs have been mounting after Amazon announced plans for about 16,000 job cuts at the start of the year, although most of these were in the US.
Bosses said they wanted to reduce layers and cut bureaucracy across the group.
Meanwhile, the new figures show that the company generated revenues of more than £30 billion from UK activities last year, from about £29 billion in 2024.
Amazon has been pushing ahead with plans to invest about £40 billion into the UK between 2025 and 2027.
More than £15 billion has already been spent on developments like new warehouse sites and offices in London, according to the business.
It has also launched drone deliveries from its fulfilment centre in Darlington, Co Durham, marking the first location in the UK to trial its Prime Air service.
This article was written by Press Association Business Reporter and Anna Wise from Press Association and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.