BORIS Johnson will tell Jeff Bezos to pay MORE UK tax in a face-to-face meeting with the world’s richest man in New York.
He’s keen for the billionaire to tackle Amazon’s notoriously miserable tax payments and address employees’ gruelling working conditions.
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Johnson on Sunday night touched down at New York’s JFK airport for a diplomatic trip featuring talks at the White House with US President Joe Biden.
Alok Sharma, Cop26 President and Liz Truss, were also present on board RAF Voyager.
On Monday, world leaders will gather at the United Nations General Assembly for discussions on climate change. However, the PM has made time to speak with Bezos.
Johnson was quizzed about Amazon’s low taxes during the flight to the USA.
He pledged to challenge Bezos, founder of the online retailer, about his tax record.
Johnson’s official spokesman said: “You can expect the Prime Minister to raise this important issue.
“We have been an advocate for an international solution to the tax challenges posed by digitalisation of the economy… we will very much be looking to raising that.”
Urgent calls for change come after Amazon’s latest accounts show its UK revenues rocketed by 51 per cent to £19billion last year.
The PM can expect to raise this issue.
Boris Johnson’s spokesman
Despite the boom, estimates have put Amazon as having a tax-to-turnover ratio of just a miserly 0.37 per cent.
Amazon, along with other Internet giants, have been criticized for their low tax rates in the UK.
The US firm’s sales here are FIVE TIMES bigger than Next and double Marks and Spencer’s.
Asked if he would challenge Bezos on Amazon paying a fair share of taxes in the UK, and to improve workers’ rights, Johnson responded: “Yes, certainly.”
“But I will also be congratulating him on his massive forestry initiative.
“He’s putting a huge amount into planting trees around the world,” Johnson spoke to reporters at the RAF Voyager.
Amazon has been repeatedly criticized for how it treats its overworked staff. They have complained of having to use bottles and forgoing their bathroom breaks.
The PM will call upon world leaders to fulfill their commitment to the poorest peoples of the planet, along with UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Downing Street said the UK has already committed £11.6billion in international climate finance over the next five years.
Biden will be meeting Johnson and Truss at the White House on Tuesday.
The PM will call for the return of UK-US travel.
The ban was imposed by Biden’s administration due to high rates of the Delta version of coronavirus.
Truss and Johnson joined Johnson for the flight amid an intensifying diplomatic row between France and the US over the new nuclear submarine military pact.