Google parent Alphabet Inc. has agreed to pay 130 million pounds (US$185 million) in a tax settlement with U.K. authorities, setting off a backlash as opposition politicians questioned the government's handling of the case.
Google will adopt a new approach for U.K. taxes, and the settlement covers taxes going back to 2005, the company said Friday in an emailed statement. Alphabet, which owns the Google search engine, has been criticized for paying a fraction of the taxes due on sales in the U.K. For example, the tech giant paid $16 million in U.K. corporation tax from 2006 to 2011 on $18 billion of revenue, according to a panel in 2013.
The pact divided politicians in the U.K. While Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said on Twitter that it was a "victory" for the government's policies, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell told the BBC that the bill was "derisory" and looked like a "sweetheart deal," and that he would call for it to be investigated by the public sector watchdog.
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