Barclays paid corporation taxes worth 53 per cent of 2013 profits
Barclays paid tax of 53 per cent on its profits last year, according to data published today. It made a pre-tax profit of £2.87bn, but paid corporation taxes of £1.56bn across the world.
British taxes were only a small proportion of that – it reported profits of £4.87bn in the UK but corporation taxes of £55m. When taxes including national insurance and VAT are included, its total contribution to state coffers in the UK is £1.43bn, and globally is £3.37bn. “Corporation tax payable in any given year rarely relates directly to the profits earned in the same 12 months,” it said, to explain the small bill. “This is because tax on profits is paid across multiple years.”
The figures show Barclays’ biggest corporation tax bill is in South Africa, at £226m. The bank has published its tax bills by country for the first time, and is getting in ahead of EU rules forcing lenders to make the information public.
Chief executive Antony Jenkins has promised to make the bank more transparent, responding to a series of crises with promises to clean up Barclays’ behaviour.