Big brands incorporated in tax havens

Taxes fund essential infrastructure like schools, healthcare and roads. Like citizens, companies benefit from use of this public money – company workers are kept healthy by the NHS, and products get from A to B on motorways built by the government, all funded through taxes.

But many big companies don’t prioritise giving back a fair share of their earnings.

According to the Tax Justice Network’s 2024 calculations, the UK government loses £33bn a year in taxes to multinational corporations and wealthy individuals moving their profits and finances abroad. That’s around half of the UK’s entire education budget each year.

How do companies use tax havens?

The most common way big companies avoid tax is by moving their profits out of the countries where they genuinely do work, and into tax havens.

1. Subsidiaries in tax havens

Big companies often have dozens, hundreds or even thousands of companies in their company group. If they ‘register’ or ‘incorporate’ some of these companies in jurisdictions with low taxes, it can help the whole company group avoid paying taxes.

If one of these companies is based in a tax haven like Bermuda, other companies in the family might send their profits to that family member in Bermuda – so the whole company group ends up paying less taxes overall.

2. Parent company in a tax haven

At the very top of the big company group is one single ‘parent company’, which owns all of the others. Sometimes this ‘top dog’ company is referred to as the ‘ultimate holding company’, or UHC, because it holds power over all the companies beneath it.

If that parent company is incorporated in a tax haven, then it makes it even easier for the whole family to avoid having to pay taxes.

How can I spot tax avoidance?

If a firm carries out nearly all of its work in one country, but its parent company is registered in a known tax haven, it should ring alarm bells. For example, if it has factories, shop fronts and head offices in the UK and then a surprising ‘financial services’ company in Bermuda, this suggests it could be profit shifting.

A company incorporated in a country with low taxes will not always be avoiding taxes. Specsavers for example is incorporated in Guernsey, a well-known tax haven. At first glance this seems highly suspect – Guernsey is a tiny island, with a population of around 65,000 people, so why would a big company have operations there? If you look deeper, however, you find that one of Specsavers’ founders, Mary Perkins, moved there to be closer to her retired parents, and there’s been documented evidence that Specsavers actually pays a pretty high amount of tax.

But usually, there’s no retired parent to explain the company being in a tax haven – and if the company doesn’t provide a good explanation, it’s clearly a high risk case for tax avoidance.

Is tax avoidance illegal?

There’s nothing illegal about tax avoidance. 

In fact, lots of tax havens are linked to the UK government – such as Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos, which are British Overseas Territories. 

15 brands incorporated in tax havens

The 15 companies below are a selection of the companies Ethical Consumer has assessed on their tax conduct.

These are all ultimately registered in tax havens, and provided no satisfactory reassurance to show that they’re not based there for tax avoidance purposes.

To see the overall ethical rating of these and other companies, subscribe or sign in.

1) Amazon

Despite its headquarters being in Washington, Amazon is incorporated in Delaware – a well-known tax haven. Amazon also has holding companies in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and has been widely criticised by campaigners and journalists for tax avoidance.

Campaigners have long tried to draw attention to the way Amazon’s Luxembourg company helps it to pay low taxes overall. Its Luxembourg company has a huge income from other European companies within the Amazon group and, as it’s based in Luxembourg, pays very low taxes on that income.

Amazon's systematic corporation tax avoidance could have cost UK citizens around £575 million in lost taxes in 2024 alone, according to Ethical Consumer’s estimates. Over the previous five years, the combined potential loss of tax revenue from Amazon comes to nearly £2bn.

Read more about our boycott campaign against Amazon over its tax avoidance.

If you use Amazon for online shopping, see our guide on alternatives to Amazon. 

2) Bacardi 

Bacardi’s ultimate parent company, Bacardi Limited, is located in Bermuda. Bacardi does have some offices in Bermuda, but its tax policy did not clearly explain how its location in Bermuda did not contribute to tax avoidance. It also had several high-risk subsidiaries in tax havens including Switzerland, Curacao, and the Netherlands.

Find alternative alcoholic drinks in our ethical guide to beer.

3) Boohoo

Many fashion brands are part of the Boohoo group, including Debenhams, NastyGal and PrettyLittleThing. The ultimate parent company of the Boohoo Group, Boohoo Group Plc, is registered in the tax haven Jersey. This is despite the company’s headquarters and retail stores being mostly located in UK cities like Manchester.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to high street clothing.

4) Etsy

Etsy UK Limited’s company activities take place in cities like Bristol, and it was founded and continues to have operations in Brooklyn in the US. Yet, Etsy UK’s immediate parent company is registered in the tax haven of Ireland, while Etsy Inc – the ultimate parent company of the whole group – is registered in the tax haven Delaware.

A 2022 Guardian article claimed that Etsy paid just £128,000 in corporation tax in the UK in 2020, despite £160m in sales. According to TaxWatch, it would have been liable for almost £7m in taxes if its sales had been registered with Etsy UK instead of in Ireland. Etsy declined to comment.

An Etsy spokesperson said the company paid tax in compliance with laws and was committed to paying its fair share. It also said Ireland was the location of its international headquarters, and was “supportive” of a global consensus on how to tax the digital economy “even if our tax bill increases”.

Find alternatives to Etsy in our ethical guide to online retailers. 

5) Ferrero

Despite being a famously Italian company, with headquarters in Piedmont, Ferrero International SA is registered in the tax haven of Luxembourg.

In 2021 Forbes published an investigation showing how billionaires use holding companies registered in Luxembourg to avoid tax. It included discussion of Giovanni Ferrero – Italy’s richest person, who owned a 75% stake in the Luxembourg-based Ferrero International SA. It also said the Ferrero family own a private investment fund in Luxembourg, and have offices in the tax havens Monaco and Singapore.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to chocolate.

6) JinkoSolar

Despite selling products that can help the transition to renewable energy, solar panel company JinkoSolar has a less ethical approach to tax contributions. It operates in China, but JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. is incorporated in the well-known tax haven the Cayman Islands.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to solar panels.

7) Dr Pepper

Keurig Dr Pepper, Inc, which also owns the 7-Up and Snapple brands in the UK, is incorporated in the tax haven Delaware, despite its headquarters being located in another state (Massachusetts). It also had other subsidiaries that were high risk for tax avoidance in the tax havens Luxembourg and Delaware.

Ethical alternative soft drinks with positive approaches to tax conduct include Essential Trading, Gaza Cola, Organico Realfoods and Suma.

8) Mars Inc

Mars Inc also owns Hotel Chocolat and popular brands like Bounty, Galaxy and Snickers.

It’s registered in the tax haven Delaware, despite its headquarters being located in Virginia, in the US. It has several other subsidiaries located in tax havens too, including in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Hong Kong. According to the publisher Inequality.org, Mars has lobbied “for reduced taxes on billionaires and the companies they run”.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to chocolate.

9) Meta

Despite Meta’s principal offices being located in California, Meta Platforms is registered in the tax haven Delaware. It also had high risk subsidiaries in Ireland and Delaware.

Alongside likely use of tax havens, Meta has also been accused of benefitting from major tax breaks in the US. The non-profit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said that Meta paid just over 3.5% federal income tax in the country in 2025, the lowest amount since the company went public in 2012. This was due to tax breaks linked to research and development, stock options paid to executives, and a tax break that allows companies to write off the cost of machinery and equipment.

The Institute stated, “The story of Meta’s income tax avoidance is mostly  straightforward — although the scale of the tax breaks is breathtaking… The federal corporate tax rate is 21 percent but companies like Meta often pay less”. It says Congress has left special tax breaks and loopholes in place that benefit Meta, and introduced some new ones in Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to social media platforms.

10) Pentland Group 

Pentland Group Limited owns brands including Ellesse, JD Sports, Speedo, Lacoste Footwear, Blacks Outdoor Retail and more. 

Despite its operations taking place on mainland UK, its ultimate parent company Pentland Group Holdings Limited is registered in the tax haven Jersey. It also has high risk subsidiaries in the Bahamas and Netherlands, both known for being tax havens.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to outdoor clothing.

11) Reddit

Reddit, Inc is incorporated in the tax haven Delaware, despite its principal offices being located in California. It also has subsidiaries in tax havens including Ireland and Singapore.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to social media platforms.

12) Soundcloud

SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. is a German company. Its ultimate parent company is called Soundcloud Holdings II, and it’s located in the Cayman Islands, a well-known tax haven.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to music streaming services.

13) Telegram

Telegram Messenger is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, a well-known tax haven which has a total population of under 40,000 people.

The British Virgin Islands are ranked #1 in the Tax Justice Network’s ranking of corporate tax havens, which says that the Islands inflict $11bn in tax loss on other countries every year.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to social media platforms.

14) Waterstones

The ultimate parent company of Waterstones Booksellers Limited is called Book Retail Investco Limited, and it’s incorporated in Jersey.

Find alternatives in our ethical guide to booksellers.

How to take action on tax

Buying from companies that pay a fair share of tax is one way to support businesses that align with your values. 

A subscription to Ethical Consumer gives you access to all our tax conduct ratings for leading consumer brands that sell their products in the UK.

You can also contact companies you buy from, asking them to sign up to the Fair Tax Foundation accreditation. This scheme highlights companies that are serious about paying a fair share of tax. Hundreds of companies are accredited, including Co-op supermarket, Ethical Consumer, Lush and Triodos Bank. 

A full list of accredited companies appears on the Fair Tax Foundation website.