UK lawmakers to grill Starbucks, Amazon over tax dodging

British lawmakers are setting their sights on Starbucks, Amazon and Google for making billions of dollars in Britain while paying just a relatively tiny amount in taxes.

Members of a Parliamentary committee charged with monitoring government financial affairs is questioning company leaders about their practices amidst growing public outcry about big international companies avoiding taxes.

“It is hard for the ordinary person to believe it’s fair,” said Margaret Hodge, a member of parliament and chairman of the committee told Reuters.

“It makes people incredibly angry in the current fiscal climate.”

The scrutiny comes as the UK and other countries push austerity measures to deal with huge budget deficits crippling European economies. Last week, Britain and Germany announced plans to push European nations to make multinational companies pay their “fair share” of taxes following reports of large firms exploiting loopholes to avoid taxes.

Reuters reported last month that Starbucks had paid no corporation or income tax in the UK in the past three years.

Starbucks insists it pays its fair share and follows tax rules in every country it operates in.

“We are committed to being transparent on this issue and look forward to appearing before this committee,” a spokeswoman said.

Reuters reports Amazon avoids paying UK taxes by reporting European sales through a Luxembourg-based unit, enabling it to pay less than half the average corporate tax rate.

Google avoids paying higher UK tax by funneling non-U.S. sales through an Irish subsidiary, allowing it to pay less than 1 million pounds in income tax last year on UK sales of up to $7.2 billion.

Both Amazon and Google refused to comment.