Local authorities are spending millions with tax-dodging Amazon

New research from Ethical Consumer shows that across 96 UK local authorities spent close to £29m with Amazon in the last three years. The average annual spend in England was £115,000 for 2024. The most a local authority spent was £1.1m in one year.

Local authorities spending millions on Amazon

Ethical Consumer obtained this information by submitting 131 freedom of information requests (FOIs). Specifically, it asked for details of their spending with Amazon over the previous three financial years.

The local authorities with the highest spend with Amazon in 2023/24, which has been increasing year on year, were:

• Hackney Borough Council (London): £1.1m
• North Yorkshire Council: £701,000
• Greenwich: £452,000

Amazon likes to make it easy for organisations to spend their money with them. Due to having Amazon business accounts, three-quarters of local authorities are obliged to do so.

Recently, the Fair Tax Foundation has blasted Amazon for failing to disclose its total profits in the UK and consequently the corporation tax required. This is despite numerous calls for greater transparency from tax justice campaigners.

Councils cornered into buying ‘cheap’, unethical goods

This research follows similar FOIs that showed that 92 UK universities had spent over £63m with Amazon over the last three years.

Ethical Consumer calls on universities and local authorities to stop buying from the company. It urges them to seek out alternatives which support the UK economy and don’t look for loopholes to avoid paying their taxes.

Two alternative suppliers, Unite and Paragon, which run similar online buying services, have been awarded contracts under a government public sector procurement framework. Unite is Fair Tax Mark accredited.

Ethical Consumer has been running a Boycott Amazon campaign since 2012. This is primarily due to Amazon’s tax avoidance practices.

Ethical Consumer researcher Dr Katalin Csatadi said of the scandal:

The irony is stark: publicly funded local authorities are spending taxpayers’ money on an organisation that is unlikely to pay its fair share of taxes.

It’s a dark, self-perpetuating cycle. Organisations feel cornered into buying ‘cheap’ goods produced in unethical ways, harming workers and the environment. The public purse shrinks as tax-avoiding companies pay less and less. The pressure to buy cheap goods increases.

Featured image via the Canary