Facebook pays INFINITELY MORE UK corp tax than in 2012

Facebook has responded to critics who attacked the free content ad network for contributing exactly zero bucks to UK corporation tax in 2012, by dishing up a a tiny sum of just £3,000 to HM Revenue & Customs last year.

However, the £3,169 bill Facebook owed to the Treasury in 2013 was offset by tax credits – which in fact left it with £182,027 in tax credits based on adjustments for prior years.

According to documents filed (PDF) with Companies House and seen by The Register, Facebook made a pre-tax loss of £11.6m on turnover of £49.8m for the year ended 31 December 2013.

The Mark Zuckerberg-run data-processing giant, which controversially funnels most of its Blighty sales through Ireland to avoid hefty tax bills in the UK, did not offer a breakdown of revenue generated in the UK, where it has more than 24 million users.

However, the company – which said its "principal activity" in Britain involved "the provision of marketing and engineering support to the Facebook Group" – continued to throw cash at its London-based wing of the business.

Facebook UK Ltd's total staff headcount increased to 208 at the end of 2013, after it plumped up the firm's technical team.

Inevitably, as a result of hiring more engineers, the company's wage bill, including share-based payments, ballooned last year to £49.8m from £34.6m in 2012.

El Reg understands that Facebook UK continues to operate at a loss because of its growing workforce in Blighty.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the public accounts committee, has chastised a number of companies about the apparent exploitation of legal tax loopholes by multinationals such as Google and Amazon.

Facebook declined to comment on this story. ®