Contacting big tech companies to ask about their tax avoidance

Thursday 14th of January 2021

As part of our new campaign, we are encouraging consumers to contact big tech companies and asking them to publicly justify continued use of tax avoidance schemes in economies severely impacted by the current pandemic.

There are two main ways you could contact big tech companies to justify their use of tax-avoidance schemes:

1. Publicly ask tech companies about their tax avoidance schemes on social media

We've drafted a post that you can use to publicly ask tech companies about their tax avoidance schemes on social media:

“I am writing to ask whether you can explain to me how it is ethical to continue to use tax avoidance schemes in economies impacted by the rising cost of living #TaxTechNow.”

On Facebook, copy and paste the text onto your profile. When doing this make sure that each Big Tech company is tagged into the post as described below, and click 'Share'.

You can also follow us on Bluesky, and on Facebook.

Amazon

Major brands: Amazon.co.uk, Kindle, AbeBooks, Goodreads, Whole Foods Market, Twitch, Audible

Shopping guides: booksellers, tablets

Copy and paste the following text and post it on your Facebook profile making sure that @AmazonUK is tagged in the post:

@AmazonUK I am writing to ask whether you can explain to me how it is ethical to continue to use tax avoidance schemes in economies impacted by the rising cost of living #TaxTechNow.

Please share this post and tag the big tech companies that you would like to contact.

Google

Major brands: Play, Chrome, Android, YouTube, FitBit, Wiz

Shopping guides: Mobile phones, email providers, tablets

Copy and paste the following text and post it on your Facebook profile making sure that @GoogleUK is tagged in the post:

@GoogleUK I am writing to ask whether you can explain to me how it is ethical to continue to use tax avoidance schemes in economies impacted by the rising cost of living #TaxTechNow.

Please share this post and tag the big tech companies that you would like to contact.

Facebook (Meta)

Major brands: Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger, WhatsApp

Shopping guides: Mobile phones, email providers, tablets

Copy and paste the following text and post it on your Facebook profile making sure that @Meta is tagged in the post:

@Meta I am writing to ask whether you can explain to me how it is ethical to continue to use tax avoidance schemes in economies impacted by the rising cost of living #TaxTechNow.

Microsoft

Major brands: LinkedIn, Skype, Bing, Microsoft Teams, Xbox

Shopping guides: Video Conferencing , Email Providers, Laptops

Copy and paste the following text and post it on your Facebook profile making sure that @MicrosoftUK is tagged in the post:

@MicrosoftUK I am writing to ask whether you can explain to me how it is ethical to continue to use tax avoidance schemes in economies impacted by the rising cost of living #TaxTechNow.

Apple

Major brands: Apple

Shopping guides: mobile phones, laptops, desktop computers, tablets

Copy and paste the following text and post it on your Facebook profile making sure that @Apple is tagged in the post:

@Apple I am writing to ask whether you can explain to me how it is ethical to continue to use tax avoidance schemes in economies impacted by the rising cost of living #TaxTechNow.

Netflix

Major brands: Netflix

Shopping guides: Movie streaming

Copy and paste the following text and post it on your Facebook profile making sure that @NetflixUK is tagged in the post:

@NetflixUK I am writing to ask whether you can explain to me how it is ethical to continue to use tax avoidance schemes in economies impacted by the rising cost of living #TaxTechNow.

2. Emailing their press offices or using other contact forms or support channels.

We have drafted text for an email below which you could modify and use should you wish to.

Email Text:

Dear [Big Tech company name here],

I have become concerned about how post-Covid societies are going to be able to pay for the rebuilding and social programmes that have become necessary.

I have also noticed that, while your company appears to be thriving economically in the pandemic, it has also been publicly criticised for its tax avoidance strategies.

I am writing to ask whether you can explain to me how it is ethical to continue to use tax avoidance schemes in a post-COVID world.

I am also keen to understand whether you have any policies preventing contributions to industry groups lobbying to prevent ethical tax reforms and interventions.

I would finally urge you to wind down all the tax avoidance schemes you currently operate and to begin to make reasonable contributions to the post-COVID societies in which you operate.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name here]

Email Amazon at amazon-pr@amazon.com
Email Google at press-uk@google.com
Email Microsoft at ukprteam@microsoft.com
Email Netflix at https://media.netflix.com/en/contact-us
Apple doesn't currently have a public facing email address.

We urge all our readers to contact big tech companies as we approach a post-COVID world. Now is the time to put pressure on businesses that use tax avoidance schemes.

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