- Starbucks and Google charged with not paying enough British corporate tax
- Government body that collects taxes denies being soft on multinational firms
- Representatives from Amazon, Google and Starbucks face grilling from government body next week
'A Mood of Anger'
But Margaret Hodge, a deputy for the opposition Labour party, argued differently, telling Homer: "There's a mood of anger out there and huge frustration that ordinary people and small businesses feel that they are hassled by you ... whereas if you are a big corporation you might be invited in for a cup of coffee."
The Public Accounts Committee, which comprises also lawmakers from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, were next week due to grill representatives from Amazon, Google and Starbucks over their corporation tax levels.
Ahead of next Monday's session, Google strongly defended its actions in Britain.
"We make a substantial contribution to the UK economy through local, payroll and corporate taxes," a company spokesperson told AFP.
"We also employ over 2,000 people, help hundreds of thousands of businesses to grow online and invest millions supporting new tech businesses in east London. We comply with all the tax rules in the UK."
According to The Sunday Times newspaper, foreign companies ought to be paying a total of about £5.5 billion in British corporation taxes -- a figure unconfirmed by Britain's government.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012
