Amazon has announced that it paid more than £1.3 billion in UK taxes last year, marking a significant increase of at least a fifth compared to the previous year. The rise is attributed to higher labour and business costs, including a national insurance rate hike that took effect in April 2025.
Tax Breakdown and Revenue
The direct taxes paid by the company include corporation tax, business rates, employer national insurance contributions, and the digital services tax. While Amazon does not disclose the exact amount for each tax category, it confirmed that corporation tax and business rates payments also rose last year. Notably, the company paid no corporation tax in 2021 and 2022 due to the super-deduction tax break introduced by former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, which has since been reformed.
In addition to direct taxes, the total tax collected by Amazon—including VAT on customer purchases and employee national insurance—amounted to approximately £5 billion, up from £4.7 billion in 2024.
Employment and Investment
Amazon remains one of the UK's largest private employers, with around 75,000 staff working in warehouses, delivery, corporate, and technology roles. Despite this, the company has implemented job cuts globally, announcing plans for about 16,000 redundancies earlier this year, primarily in the US. The company stated that these cuts aim to reduce layers and streamline bureaucracy.
Revenues from UK activities exceeded £30 billion in 2025, compared to £29 billion in 2024. Amazon is also progressing with plans to invest approximately £40 billion in the UK between 2025 and 2027, with over £15 billion already allocated to new warehouse sites and office developments in London. Additionally, the company has launched drone deliveries from its fulfilment centre in Darlington, County Durham, marking the first UK trial of its Prime Air service.
