Amazon begins declaring sales in UK, Germany, Spain, Italy

(AFP) Online retail giant Amazon said it has started declaring sales made in major European markets in the respective countries instead of Luxembourg, meaning it will pay taxes on the sales in the nations.

Amazon's tax agreement in Luxembourg, under which it recorded European sales and paid taxes on them in the tiny country instead of at the source, had attracted howls of criticism that the giant was trying to evade taxes, and had sparked an EU probe.

"More than two years ago we began the process of establishing local country branches of Amazon EU Sarl, our primary retail operating company in Europe," the company said in a statement.

"As of May 1, Amazon EU Sarl is recording retail sales made to customers through these branches in the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy," the company said in a statement.

"Previously, these retail sales were recorded in Luxembourg. We are working on opening a branch for France." 

Amazon is among several large companies under the spotlight in Europe over tax deals in Luxembourg and elsewhere.

The EU is investigating tax deals involving US tech giant Apple in Ireland, coffee-shop chain Starbucks in the Netherlands, and Amazon and Italian automaker Fiat in Luxembourg.