Christian poverty campaigner slams Facebook over tax

The head of Church Action on Poverty has criticised Facebook after the social networking giant was accused of tax dodging.

Newspapers reported last week that Facebook paid only £238,000 in corporation tax on UK earnings of up to £175m.

Coffee giant Starbucks has also come under fire for avoiding paying corporation tax on UK sales of £398m last year. MPs are calling upon HM Revenue & Customs to launch an investigation.

Writing in his blog, CAP head Niall Cooper said he was considering organising a "Switch Off Facebook" day to force the social networking site to pay its fair share.

He put the proposal to his readers, with 93% saying they supported the idea.

He said: "Every pound Facebook and other major corporations dodge in taxes is a pound less to spend on essential public services, health, education and benefits – and the impact is increasingly being felt by individuals, families and communities across the country.

"Facebook generates the bulk of its revenue using a ‘pay per view’ or ‘pay per click’ advertising.

"If Facebook users publicly ‘switched off Facebook’ for a day – and at the same time called on the company to pay its fair share of taxes – we would hit them where it hurts most: In the wallet."