Amazon 'now paying tax on German sales in Germany'

Online retailer Amazon has started paying tax on profits from its sales to German customers in Germany instead of in Luxembourg, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The change to book sales from Amazon.de in Germany rather than Luxembourg took effect May 1, the online edition of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily quoted a company spokesman as saying.

Amazon is among several large companies under the spotlight in Europe over tax deals in Luxembourg and elsewhere.

The EU is investigating tax deals involving US tech giant Apple and Ireland, coffee-shop chain Starbucks in The Netherlands, and Amazon and Italian automaker Fiat in Luxembourg.

Amazon said the overhaul was not due to criticism of its practices, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung report said.

"We review our company structures regularly in order to ensure that we can serve our customers as best we can," it quoted the spokesman as saying.

The paper said Amazon sold almost 12 billion dollars (11 billion euros) worth of goods in Germany last year, up from around nine billion dollars in 2012.

According to other press reports, Amazon has also begun booking British sales in Britain.