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HM Revenue and Customs has stated that there are no plans to change the way multinational companies are taxed, despite a claim that online retailer Amazon has paid virtually no UK Tax.

A report in The Guardian said Amazon generated UK sales over the past three years of between £7.6bn and £10.3bn. It said if the same profit margin as in the US was applied, this would create taxable profits of between £266 to £360m, - yielding notional UK corporation tax of up to £100m.

However all payments for online orders are now registered in Luxembourg where the Amazon.co.uk business is based and the company paid minimal tax here.

Richard Murphy of the Tax Justice Network told Sky News that in 2010 the British operation made an estimated profit of at least £125m.

"On that basis they should be paying tax of £35m plus in that one year alone. They did pay tax, but it was £1.9m," Mr Murphy said.

"So they have avoided a substantial tax bill in the UK as a result of the structure they have chosen to use."

Amazon, which launched in the UK 14 years ago, has a large distribution centre in Swindon and is the country's most popular retail website with growth in numerous consumer sectors.

Mr Murphy said that although the tax structures are legal, it is "blatantly a trick" used by multinational companies.

"They rely on us to provide the infrastructure, the roads, the people who are trained," Mr Murphy said.

"They get an unfair competitive advantage over local UK businesses and unsurprisingly, the High Street is emptying. This is really bad for small British business."

(Sky News)