Mayor tells Google: You have PR problem over tax

 
28 November 2012
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Boris Johnson’s row with Google over tax avoidance escalated today as the Mayor accused the company of having a “PR problem”.

The Mayor stood by his remarks that Google made “shed-loads” of money in the UK and should either pay more tax or put more back into society.

He also defended himself against criticism from Matt Brittin, the firm’s UK chief executive, that he had neglected the hi-tech sector in London.

Mr Brittin, who was quizzed by MPs over Google’s tax affairs several weeks ago, had claimed the Mayor got his facts wrong on the amount of tax paid by the company. He said: “We pay tax and he should look at the broader contribution we make, including the investment in start-ups in London.

“It’s frustrating that the Mayor of London, who is a great champion of the financial services industry, isn’t championing the technology sector, which has the chance to provide the next wave of growth for London and the UK.”

On a visit to technology firm Infotech in Hyderabad, Mr Johnson responded: “We all use Google, we all love Google, but here’s the thing. It seems to me the point stands. You either change your tax arrangements or, as I’ve repeatedly said, great corporations that live and work and profit from the society they’re in should do a little bit more.

“It’s perfectly correct that the law as it stands can be used in that way. But they’ve got a PR problem. People feel that a giant corporation like Google makes shed-loads of money should be doing a little bit more.”

Mr Johnson said that promoting the tech industry was one of the key aims of his week-long trip to India. He said: “We have 2,400 tech businesses in that area of [east] London alone and it’s growing the whole time.”

But Google was not alone in suggesting more needed to be done to boost the sector.

Vijay Mohan, vice president of Smartplay, which announced today it was setting up its European HQ in London, said: “I believe there’s still a long way to go. London is today identified as a financial hub, a banking hub, but not so much as a technological centre. That’s why I think there needs to be more done to promote itself as a tech capital.”

Google pays £6 million in the UK in corporation tax on the profit from UK sales of £2.5 billion.

Mr Brittin told Channel 4 News: “Google plays by the rules set by politicians. The only people who really have choices are politicians who set the tax rates.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in