STARBUCKS is preparing to cave in to growing pressure over its tax affairs, with a pledge to boost payments to the UK’s cash-strapped taxman.
In an attempt to ward off a consumer boycott, the coffee chain will promise this week to increase the amount of British corporation tax it pays.
The climbdown comes as parliament’s public accounts committee prepares to publish a damning report on the elaborate tricks used by big corporations to sidestep the taxman.
Starbucks has found itself at the centre of a political storm over the aggressive tax avoidance practised by US multinationals operating in the UK.
Since arriving in Britain in 1998 the chain, which has more than 700 UK shops, has paid just £8.6m in corporation tax, despite generating more