UK Uncut warns Vodafone over ‘unpaid tax’

ACTIVISM GROUP UK Uncut has issued a warning to the UK’s largest telecoms company Vodafone over allegedly unpaid corporation tax.

The group claims it has “had enough” of the government “sheltering tax-dodging companies” including, it claims, Vodafone.

It is alleged by the protest group that the network has not paid any corporation tax in the UK since 2011.

In protest, ahead of Vodafone’s AGM on 14 June, UK Uncut will be attempting to “transform branches up and down the country into living rooms, shelters, refuges, bedrooms and hostels”.

Vodafone, however, said it paid £275m in direct taxes, with its total cash contribution to the UK government more than £1.8bn in 2013.

“UK Uncut protests are totally unwarranted and ignore all of the salient facts. Vodafone is a major investor in the UK. We are also a major source of direct and indirect employment in the UK,” it said in a statement.

It added: “Corporation tax is charged on profits, not revenues, and is only a small part of the total tax contribution for businesses. Our corporation tax position reflects completely standard capital allowances, which apply to all businesses big and small. We spend more than £1bn a year on networks and services in the UK, which more than consumes any profit we make here.

“Protestors are picking on the wrong target on the basis of myths and falsehoods. They should take some time to look at the facts.”