Cadbury owner Mondelez paid no tax last year despite £185m profits

Mondelez UK Limited, the Birmingham-based British sales and distribution arm of the US confectionery giant, made £1.6 billion revenue in 2017 according to the latest accounts filed to Companies House.

Profit before tax was up more than 700 per cent to £185 million, compared with £22 million the previous year.

But the accounts show a tax credit for £320,000 in 2017.

In the prior year, Mondelez UK paid £122,000 in tax.

The difference was partly due to almost £30 million of income being deemed non-taxable, as well as a decrease in the UK corporation tax rate from 20 per cent to 19 per cent in April 2017.

Meanwhile the company paid out a dividend of almost £250 million to its immediate parent company Kraft Foods Schweiz Holdings, which is based in Switzerland.

The UK division, which employs 4,000 people, also gained £170,000 after the proceeds of the Vegemite brand sale in Australia were distributed among Mondelez subsidiaries.

According to reports, a network of 48 British Mondelez subsidiary companies paid a total of £5.9 million combined in corporation tax last year on profits of £1.3 billion.

The company has its UK base at Bournville in Birminahm, the historic home of Cadbury, as well as operating satellite chocolate factories at Chirk in Mid Wales and at the Marlbrook site in Leominster, which process cocoa beans and add fresh British and Irish milk.

Responding to the report, a Mondelez spokesperson said: "In common with all global businesses, we pay corporation tax based on the laws of the countries in which we operate.

"We comply with all applicable tax legislation in the UK, as directed by HMRC and the government. We are a global company, operating and paying tax in more than 165 countries and on a global basis we pay hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate income tax annually.

"We are a significant contributor to the UK economy, both through direct spending on employees and suppliers, and through the recirculation of that expenditure in the wider economy. We are also investing in our business here and since 2010 are proud to have invested over £200 million in both UK-based manufacturing and research & develpment supporting our 4,000 employees in the UK."