Netflix paid UK corporation tax worth less than £400,000 last year, despite gaining revenues of £36.5 million from British customers.
Netflix’s parent company is based in the Netherlands, according to their Companies House filing, and reports in euros. Corporation tax paid in the UK last year stood at 441,775 euros, despite having almost 6 million subscribers and reaching a pre-tax profit of £1.8 million.
“In the UK, Netflix is financially contributing in different ways with corporate taxes, wages and tens of millions of pounds in VAT as well as funding dozens of UK productions for hundreds of millions of pounds,” said Netflix spokesperson told The Guardian.
“We have more than 30 UK projects in various stages of development. In addition to The Crown, other shows and movies include Black Mirror … and Brad Pitt’s War Machine movie. An income tax charge of approximately €441,000 makes an effective tax rate of approximately 22 percent.”
The UK is widely seen to be Netflix’s largest market outside the US, but says it employs just 13 staff in the UK. The company is expected to bring in $8 billion worth of global revenues this year, and has over 80 million subscribers.
Netflix will report its third quarter earnings after close of trade on Monday, and are expected disclose earnings of 4 cents per share. This figure would be a 57 percent drop on the same quarter last year, and almost 67 percent lower than their second quarter of 2016. According to FactSet analysts, revenue for the third quarter is expected to hit $2.28 billion.
Netflix (LON:NFLX) is currently trading down 1.36 percent at 97.95 (1452GMT).