- News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) Chairman Rupert Murdoch has gone on the attack over a UK tax deal by Google parent Alphabet, joining opposition politicians in the critique while Prime Minister David Cameron defended the deal.
- "Google et al broke no tax laws," active tweeter Murdoch tweeted. "Now paying token amounts for p r purposes. Won't work. Need strong new laws to pay like the rest of us."
- Alphabet agreed to pay £130M in a settlement after a panel found that it paid just $16M in corporate tax to the UK on $18B of revenue over five years.
- Murdoch's been the subject of the same criticism -- an Economist report in 1999 found News Corp. had paid about 6% over the previous four years, and no net tax in the UK at all on £1.4B in profits made since 1987 -- and Cameron has been criticized for a close relationship with Murdoch.
- "Tech tax breaks facilitated by politicians easily awed by Valley ambassadors like Google chairman Schmidt eg, posh boys in Downing St.," Murdoch added.