Lidl hits back at critics after paying £25m UK corporation tax bill

(Getty Images)

Supermarket Lidl responded to claims that its structure is opaque by revealing it paid more than £25 million to the UK taxman last year.

Morrisons boss Dalton Philips is one of several people who have called for foreign-owned retailers to declare their tax bills amid fears they have an unfair advantage over their UK rivals.

However, Germany’s Lidl said today: “At Lidl we believe that every company has a social and economic responsibility to pay tax in correspondence with its earnings.”

It added that it would “continue to pay our fair share of UK corporation tax on all our UK profits”.

The move comes after several global companies, including Starbucks and Amazon, have come under attack over their tax arrangements in the UK.

Lidl, together with its low-cost rival Aldi, has enjoyed a rapid expansion in Britain at the expense of the “Big Four” supermarkets.

Lidl added that it was “worth noting that the corporation tax rate in Britain, currently 21 per cent, is more attractive from a business investment perspective than the German tax rate”.

“Furthermore,” the supermarket added, “we do not engage in any tax-avoidance schemes, nor do we have any subsidiaries in low-tax countries.”

The company said that it had not filed accounts with Companies House because it met UK filing obligations through its German parent group.