Tech giants urged to pick up VAT bills in fraud crackdown January 29, 2020 Online marketplaces such as Amazon and Ebay have been urged to take responsibility for VAT collection and remittance in the UK. Trade body the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) today called on the government to make tech firms liable for the goods tax, citing concerns about growing fraud. HMRC has estimated that VAT fraud by [...]
Amazon breaks $200bn mark as world’s most valuable brand January 22, 2020 Online retail titan Amazon has defended its position as the world’s most valuable brand for a third year in a row, with the firm becoming the first to break the $200bn (£153bn) mark. Jeff Bezos’ company is worth $220.8bn in total, over $60bn more than second-placed Google, which is worth $159.7bn, according to the annual [...]
Amazon says UK tech tax could hit small businesses January 16, 2020 Amazon’s UK boss has played down concerns about a new tech tax, but warned the move could raise costs for small businesses using its platform. The government’s 11 March Budget is expected to include a digital services tax, which will charge a two per cent levy on the UK revenue of technology companies. Douglas Gurr, [...]
Tech giants lobby EU not to hold them liable for illegal content January 7, 2020 The biggest tech companies have called on the EU not to hold them liable for all content on their platforms, but have accepted that their efforts to remove illegal or harmful content could be regulated by a new European watchdog. A lobby group that represents tech titans including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon has written [...]
Amazon’s Deliveroo investment could cause higher prices, says CMA December 27, 2019 Amazon and Deliveroo are the subject of an in-depth probe by competition authorities into the e-commerce giant’s investment in the food delivery firm. Neither company offered undertakings in response to concerns aired by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Read more: CMA puts brakes on Amazon’s Deliveroo investment The CMA said earlier this month that [...]
Amazon strengthens dominance of UK e-commerce market December 10, 2019 Online retail giant Amazon increased its dominance of the UK e-commerce market this year, according to the latest research. Amazon boosted its market share from 28.8 per cent in 2018 to 30.1 per cent this year, accounting for $30bn in sales. Read more: Amazon nets Champions League rights The next largest player in the UK, [...]
Amazon nets Champions League rights with German streaming deal December 10, 2019 Amazon has made its first move into European football streaming after snapping up the rights to show a package of Champions League games in Germany. The US retail giant today said it has secured exclusive rights to broadcast Tuesday night fixtures in the country for the 2021-2022 season. Read more: Amazon steps into Premier League [...]
Amazon sues Pentagon over claims Trump to blame for failure to win $10bn defence contract December 9, 2019 Amazon has opened legal proceedings against the Pentagon, alleging that the online giant was denied a $10bn (£7.6bn) US defence contract due to US President Donald Trump’s personal vendetta against chief executive Jeff Bezos. In a court filing made public today, Amazon claimed that its failure to secure the contract was result of improper pressure [...]
Unions protest outside Amazon’s London HQ on Cyber Monday December 2, 2019 Union members demonstrated outside Amazon’s London headquarters this morning and accused the e-commerce giant of failing to pay the correct amount of corporation tax. The GMB union estimated that the retailer should have paid £103m in corporation tax last year, but claims the company’s biggest UK arm paid £14m of tax on £2.3bn worth of [...]
Amazon to appeal Pentagon decision to award Microsoft $10bn cloud contract November 15, 2019 Amazon will appeal the US department of defense’s decision to award Microsoft a major cloud contract. Amazon, which already provides cloud computing for the Central Intelligence Agency, had been favourites to win the contract worth $10bn over 10 years. Read more: Nike pulls clothes and shoes from Amazon amid digital push The company has now [...]