Amazon has said it paid more than £1.3bn in UK taxes last year, as higher labour and business costs pushed up its total bill by at least a fifth.

It said the amount of tax it paid directly in the UK rose by at least 20 per cent in 2025, up from more than £1bn the previous year.

The figure covers taxes Amazon pays itself, including corporation tax, business rates, employer National Insurance and digital services tax.

The increase is understood to have been partly driven by higher employer National Insurance costs, after a rate rise came into force last April. Amazon also paid more in corporation tax and business rates during the year.

The business does not disclose how much it pays under each individual tax heading.

Amazon previously paid no UK corporation tax in 2021 and 2022 after benefiting from the Government’s “super-deduction” investment tax break, which was introduced by former chancellor Rishi Sunak and later reformed.

The retailer said the total amount of tax it collected in the UK, including VAT paid by customers on purchases and National Insurance contributions from staff, reached around £5bn last year, up from £4.7bn in 2024.

Amazon generated more than £30bn in revenues from its UK activities in 2025, compared with around £29bn the year before.

The marketplace remains one of the UK’s largest private sector employers, with around 75,000 staff across warehouse, delivery, corporate and technology roles.

However, the update comes after Amazon confirmed plans for around 16,000 job cuts globally at the start of the year, with the majority understood to be in the US. The ecommerce giant said the move was designed to reduce layers of management and cut bureaucracy across the business.

Amazon is continuing with plans to invest around £40bn in the UK between 2025 and 2027. It said more than £15bn had already been spent on developments including new warehouse sites and offices in London.

The business has also launched drone deliveries from its fulfilment centre in Darlington, County Durham, making it the first UK location to trial its Prime Air service.