Online marketplace paid just $18m in corporation tax, leading campaigners to call for government action
The Chinese online marketplace Temu’s EU operations more than doubled pre-tax profits last year to just below $120m (£90m) despite employing just eight people, accounts show.
They rose 171% in the 12 months to December 2024 compared with the $44.1m the year before, as shoppers snapped up its low-cost goods, which are widely promoted on social media.
However, the company paid just $18m in corporation tax, almost $3m of which was a mandatory top-up tax brought in at the end of 2023 after the EU signed up to a global minimum tax rate for large companies.
The accounts filed for the group’s Ireland-based EU parent group, Whaleco Technology, also show revenues rose to $1.7bn, compared with $758m the previous year, before new controls on the super-budget retailer.
