Tax gap of silicon six over $100 billion so far this decade 

The Silicon Six and their $100 billion global tax gap

The report examined the tax conduct of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google and Microsoft in the ten years since 2009 and, not unexpectedly, found evidence of industrial-scale tax avoidance.

Researchers, however, found that the corporation tax paid had been even lower than was commonly understood. The gap, for example, between the current tax provisions (the amount the companies were expected to pay) and the corporation tax actually paid was $100.2bn. All were found to be shifting profits to tax havens, especially Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

The report, called ‘The Silicon Six and their $100 billion global tax gap’, was published by Fair Tax Mark, the campaigning certification scheme for good tax conduct established in Manchester in 2013 with help from Ethical Consumer

Amazon the top tax avoider in the Silicon Six

Amazon was found to be the worst culprit and had paid just $3.4bn in corporation taxes in the last decade, whilst Apple had paid $93.8bn and Microsoft had paid $46.9bn.

This is a staggering variance, especially as Amazon’s revenue over this period exceeded that of Microsoft’s by almost $80bn. Fair Tax Mark said this means Amazon’s effective tax rate was just 12.7% over the decade when the headline tax rate in the US has been 35% for most of that period.

Ethical Consumer has been calling for a boycott of Amazon since 2013. We argue that its systematic avoidance of tax means, amongst other things, that it is able to undercut other more ethical retailers in multiple sectors leading to the closure of many smaller businesses. This in turn further reduces the tax revenue that governments can raise to spend on poorer and more vulnerable members of the communities that Amazon operates in.

Chief Executive of the Fair Tax Mark, Paul Monaghan:

“Our analysis of the long-run effective tax rate of the Silicon Valley Six over the decade to date has found that the corporation tax paid has been much lower than is commonly understood.”

Campaigners have also long been pushing for a change in international accounting practice to help bridge this tax gap. Alex Cobham, Chief Executive, Tax Justice Network, said:

“This report demonstrates why we need a fundamental reprogramming of the world’s approach to tax, based on a unitary taxation. A unitary approach to tax means we can finally make sure multinational corporations contribute tax based on where they employ workers and do business, not where they rent mailboxes and hide ledgers”

Going viral

Since its publication, the Silicon Six report has been covered in The Guardian, The Independent, The Sunday Times, the Daily Mail and The Spectator in the UK.

In the US it was covered by Fox Business, CNBC, Fortune Magazine, Vice and Gizmodo amongst others.



In Europe it was covered by reporters in Austria, Belgium, Poland, Spain and Ireland. And in the rest of the world it was discussed in Canada, China, Malaysia, Russia and India. This is not counting the specialist accountancy, tax and other publications which pored over its detail.



The companies have subsequently been engaged in a not-very-convincing defence of their positions.

Investor warning

The report also issued a stark warning to investors. The collective tax ‘contingencies’ of the Six have rocketed in recent years, increasing fourfold from $8.9bn at the end of 2010 to $47bn in 2019. They have also accrued a further $5.7bn in connected interest and penalties. In total, the Six have more than $50bn of unrealised net income due to their aggressive tax positions.

Paul Monaghan from Fair Tax Mark said,

“Investors need to look afresh at the future impact that this will have on company valuations and income flows.

Not least because the OECD is now leading multilateral efforts to address the tax challenges from digitalisation of the economy, and is looking to ensure that profitable multinationals pay tax wherever they have significant consumerfacing activities and generate their profits.”

Campaigners have also long been pushing for a change in international accounting practice to help bridge this tax gap. Alex Cobham, Chief Executive, Tax Justice Network, said:

“This report demonstrates why we need a fundamental reprogramming of the world’s approach to tax, based on a unitary taxation. A unitary approach to tax means we can finally make sure multinational corporations contribute tax based on where they employ workers and do business, not where they rent mailboxes and hide ledgers.”

For more information, download the full report.