New Delhi: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is looking to challenge Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos on its tax record when the duo meets in person on Monday during a three-day trip to New York and Washington, according to Downing Street report.
The UK Prime Minister will address the UN General Assembly and hold talks with the US president, Joe Biden, and his deputy, Kamala Harris, at the White House.
Johnson, who has been firefighting against the Covid situation in England, conducted a ruthless reshuffle of his top team. It will be his first trip outside the UK since the outbreak of Covid-19. Concerns surrounding international corporate tax rates for tech giants will remain high on the agenda.
Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos has been facing opposition on the fair share of tax payment by the e-commerce giant including the terms and conditions faced by its workforce.
According to The Guardian, Amazon's revenues in the UK increased by more than 50 percent in 2020 to £20.63 billion, but its key UK division paid just £18.3m in direct taxes.
Among other major initiatives this year, Bezos ventured into space in his rocket New Shepard as part of the ongoing “billionaires’ space race", which witnessed another billionaire including Tesla’s Elon Musk developing their own rival space vehicles.
On raising queries about Amazon’s tax record with Bezos, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “Yes, you can expect the prime minister to raise this important issue.”
“As you know, we’ve been a leading advocate for an international solution to the tax challenges posed by the digitalization of the economy,” the spokesperson told The Guardian.
He added, “We secured an agreement at the G7 on digital tax, so we’ll very much be looking to raise that.”
Johnson is also expected to take up the issue of the travel ban with the US President that prevents most passengers from the UK from visiting the US.
The two countries established a working group three months ago to work on opening up travel, but no proposals have yet emerged from it.