John McDonnell responds to news of Google’s tax bill only amounting to just £36.4 million

John
McDonnell MP Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to news of Google’s tax bill
only amounting to just £36.4 million, said:

“This
revelation only further proves that Philip Hammond and Theresa May are more
interested in cutting Google’s taxes, than making sure they are paying their
fair share.

“It
seems that the so called “successful” tax deal with Google that George Osborne
boasted about last year has meant that they are still not paying their fair
share under his successor Philip Hammond. We urgently need clarity on HMRC’s
relationship with Google and what reassurances have been provided to the
company.

“It
is a national disgrace that by paying just £36 million in tax Google could have
an effective tax rate lower than many working families in our country. And it
exposes the complacency at the heart of this Tory Government, which is
allowing this to still continue despite last year’s scandal.

“It’s
time that the Tories got a grip of big corporations not paying their way,
instead of going ahead with £70 billion in tax giveaways to big business and
the super-rich, while cutting in-work benefits for the low paid, and
threatening to turn our country into a tax haven.

“The
truth is that the Tories have no interest in standing up for working people,
only Labour with our Tax Transparency and Enforcement Programme will bring in
full, public, country-by-country reporting.