‘If you can afford to send Katy Perry to space, you can afford to pay more taxes’
Campaign group Everyone Hates Elon has replaced Amazon store ads with posters criticising the multinational’s tax practices.
The ads, which went viral on social media, targeted Jeff Bezos for funding a space flight but avoiding paying tax.
The protest comes after Bezos’ private space company Blue Origin launched six women, including pop star Katy Perry and Bezos’ partner Lauren Sánchez, on an 11-minute flight into space last week.
One of the posters displayed at a bus stop near Amazon’s London HQ read: “If you can afford to send Katy Perry to space, you can afford to pay more taxes.”
Another outside the Amazon Fresh store in Angel, London displayed the message: “Our tax avoidance is out of this world, just ask Katy Perry.”
The Instagram caption says: “Why pay tax when you can send Katy Perry to space for 11 minutes?”.
Known for its posters mocking tech billionaire Elon Musk, Everyone Hates Elon has displayed ads across the London Underground and bus stops.
In a recent protest, they smashed up a Tesla car to create an “art installation” which they will auction off to raise money for food banks.
Amazon paid just £18.7 million in corporation tax in 2023/24—£433 million less than the £452 million it should have, according to Ethical Consumer.
In the two years before that, Amazon UK did not pay any corporation tax due to a “super-deduction” tax break introduced by Rishi Sunak in 2021.
This scheme allowed companies to deduct 130% of what they spent on equipment like plant and machinery from their taxable profits.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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