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Amazon Discloses UK Sales Figures to Parliament

November 27, 2012 By Mercy Pilkington 1 Comment


The major ebook distribution retailers are notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to giving out specific information on their ebook and e-reader sales, but Amazon was recently forced to disclose some highly sensitive information to Parliament’s PAC, or Public Accounts Committee, alongside fellow giants Starbucks and Google over disputes about the amounts of taxes owed.

Amazon’s Director of EU Public Policy, Andrew Cecil, initially informed Parliament in mid-November that Amazon is not in the habit of releasing that level of information, but later agreed to supply the PAC with the sales figures they needed to determine if the taxation was correct.

Unfortunately, in a document that was marked several times as confidential and with several references made by Cecil to the confidential nature of the information, the precise sales figures were leaked to the public via Parliament’s own website where Cecil’s full document was posted. According to the document, Cecil clearly states:

“Although we have not publicly disclosed net sales generated from specific websites targeting EU countries or elsewhere, in response to the committee request, we would like to share with you on a confidential basis net sales generated from the Amazon.co.uk website over the past three years.”

There seem to have been some discrepancies between the initial sales information provided from Amazon UK and the figures provided in Cecil’s document, which the PAC is looking into and will be expected to comment on later. There was also a lengthy explanation of Amazon’s structuring within the EU and how VAT is paid out.

Mercy Pilkington (2165 Posts)

Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.


News Items of Interest

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  • Amazon Benefits from Higher VAT in the UK for eBooksAmazon Benefits from Higher VAT in the UK for eBooks
  • E-Book Retailers Need to Partner with Carriers and Smartphone CompaniesE-Book Retailers Need to Partner with Carriers and Smartphone Companies
  • UK Rules eBooks Aren’t Books as Far as Taxation Is ConcernedUK Rules eBooks Aren’t Books as Far as Taxation Is Concerned
  • Simon & Schuster Adopts Refined Agency Pricing with Amazon UKSimon & Schuster Adopts Refined Agency Pricing with Amazon UK
  • EU to Take Stronger Stance on VAT over eBooksEU to Take Stronger Stance on VAT over eBooks

Filed Under: Digital Publishing News, E-Book News, e-Reader News

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