Coffee drinkers not the taxman forced Starbucks
to start paying tax in Britain, Treasury minister admits
- Global coffee giant attempts to ward off backlash over accounting methods
- Paid just £8.6m corporation tax in 14 years, despite £3bn in sales but has now 'met with taxman to discuss paying more'
- Starbucks has only posted a profit from UK business once in 15 years
- Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander says u-turn is the result of 'public pressure'
The company, which has paid just £8.6million in corporation tax in the UK over 14 years - and none in the last three - is seeking to deflect a consumer boycott and increased taxman scrutiny by voluntarily increasing the amount it pays.
Starbucks has been trading well but pays little in UK tax because of legal accounting techniques
The move comes amid a storm of anger surrounding the low levels of UK tax paid by Google, Amazon and other major international corporations.