Netflix is to start declaring its £1billion-plus UK revenues to the British taxman

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Netflix is to start declaring its £1billion-plus UK revenues to the British taxman in move that will pressurise Google, Amazon and other tech giants to follow suit

  • Netflix set to begin declaring its UK revenues to tax authorities from January
  • Move comes after it vowed to declared its revenues in both France and Spain 
  • Company has been funnelling its revenues to foreign accounts since 2012 

By Lydia Catling For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Netflix is set to start declaring £1billion-plus UK revenues to the British taxman in January, a move which is likely to add pressure on other tech firms to follow suit. 

Since it launched in 2012, the streaming service has been funnelling profits from the UK through several accounts at the headquarters in the Netherlands.

And Netflix is not alone, with other company giants such Amazon and Google funnelling money through offshore tax havens. 

Netflix is set to begin declaring its UK revenue to the British tax man after a move which is set to pile pressure on other firms. Pictured: Netflix’s The Crown

But on Tuesday, 13million Netflix users in the UK will be notified that, as of January, the company will begin to declare its profits. 

A spokesman for the streaming service told The Guardian: ‘As Netflix continues to grow in the UK and in other international markets we want our corporate structure to reflect this footprint.

‘So from next year, revenue generated in the UK will be recognised in the UK, and we will pay corporate income tax accordingly.’ 

This year alone, the company is reported to have revenues of more than £1.1billion compared to £500m three years ago.  

It is not yet clear how much the new declaration, due to begin in January, will set the company back. Pictured: Netflix's Tiger King

It is not yet clear how much the new declaration, due to begin in January, will set the company back. Pictured: Netflix’s Tiger King

After the recent shakeup, the amount of UK corporation tax the company, which is valued at £160billion, will have to pay is likely to increase.

But it is not yet clear how dramatic the increase will be, with several factors, such as investment in British productions, influencing the amount in Britain. 

Around half of the profits made from subscriptions in the UK, which cost between £5.99 to £11.99 a month, are said to be added to its content budget.  

In 2018 Netflix was given a UK tax rebate of £51,000 while earning £700million from UK users but only declared just over £43million in revenue.

Around half of the profits made from subscriptions in the UK, which cost between £5.99 to £11.99 a month, are said to be added to its content budget. Pictured: Netflix's The Queen's Gambit

Around half of the profits made from subscriptions in the UK, which cost between £5.99 to £11.99 a month, are said to be added to its content budget. Pictured: Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit

For that same year, they are estimated to have funnelled around £250million in profits outside the US to low-tax jurisdictions. 

After France, Spain, Italy and the UK signed a letter declaring tech giants ‘pay their fair share of tax’ Netflix has since  made changes.

The company announced on Wednesday it would declare its French revenues after the government demanded US companies such as Facebook and Amazon pay the country’s digital services tax on Wednesday. 

Before that, Netflix had also vowed to do the same in Spain, prompting suggestions other companies will be forced to follow suit across Europe.