Oldham East and Saddleworth’s Labour MP Debbie Abrahams opposition to taxing online giants such as Amazon on Politics North West this weekend has been criticised by Oldham Councillor and tax campaigner Sam Al-Hamdani.
When asked if she would support proposals to introduce an online sales tax, intended to combat tax avoidance and raise money for the Coronavirus response, Abrahams said: “Not at this stage.”
She even pushed back against the presenter’s suggestion that: “There is nothing wrong with getting the online giants to pay their tax”, saying: “I wouldn’t want to be considering increases in taxation at this stage.”
Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said that the MP’s response did not add up. “It shows a complete disregard for what is happening in the real world. While people running local businesses are struggling to keep their doors open, Amazon announced record sales of more than $100bn over the last three months.
“This isn’t fair for people in Oldham. We can see that Amazon are taking advantage. It needs to be called out and dealt with.”
Amazon did not declare how much tax it paid in the UK last year, but the company paid £293m in tax (worldwide) in 2019, while raking in €294m in tax credits across Europe (including the UK) in the same period.
Councillor Al-Hamdani said that the MP’s response made even less sense in the light of her later criticism of the Government’s funding settlement for Councils. “She condemned the Government for pushing the costs of the coronavirus pandemic onto local authorities – and the Conservatives have taken this approach, to the detriment of towns like Oldham.
“But why is she also opposing something that would create a level playing field, designed to protect small and high street businesses, and which could actually bring in the money that could change this?
“Our out-of-date tax system needs fixing. Social care must not be paid for by pushing the costs on to those who can afford it least, but by a new national settlement. We need a Government – and an opposition – who care about fairness, who care about the vulnerable and, importantly, who care about getting the economy and taxation right, so that we all pay our fair share. If the Labour Party are not going to rise to this challenge, then the Liberal Democrats can.”