“In light of changes to tax law in the UK, we felt this change would provide transparency to Facebook’s operations in the UK. The new structure is easier to understand and clearly recognises the value our UK organisation adds to our sales through our highly skilled and growing UK sales team.”
Facebook sources said the company had been working on the new tax structure for about a year.
They said the decision was partly driven by the growing scale of Facebook’s operations in the UK, where it has 850 staff and is building a new office in Fitzrovia.
The other factor was George Osborne’s new “diverted profits” tax set at 25 per cent and aimed at companies using “contrived” structures to move profits out of the country.
Facebook’s first higher tax bill will be paid in 2017.
