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"Apple has become the latest technology company to be criticised for allegedly side-stepping UK tax rules by using foreign subsidiaries. Accounts for the iPhone and iPad maker&amp;#039;s three main British subsidiaries reveal that the firm paid only \u00A310.3m in corporation tax in the year to September 25, 2010.  This was despite Apple&amp;#039;s turnover in the UK accounting for around a tenth of overall worldwide sales - more than $75bn (\u00A347bn) in the year in question. This means that the company enjoyed sales here of close to \u00A35bn. The Daily Telegraph reports that Apple avoids heavy taxation costs in places like Britain by using foreign subsidiaries, such as in Ireland and the British Virgin Islands.  Following a similar story about Amazon paying virtually no tax in the UK after shifting its European central operations to Luxembourg, it is thought that Her Majesty&amp;#039;s Revenue &amp;amp; Customs is considering an investigation into the situation. An HMRC spokesman said that the organisation would crack down on &amp;quot;unacceptable corporate structuring&amp;quot;.   The chancellor George Osborne also said at the Budget on March 21 that the government would consider measures to address the &amp;quot;morally repugnant&amp;quot; tax dodging. Last year, Apple was able to pay an overall tax rate of 24.2%, lower than the 35% level of corporation tax set in the US, where it is based. This was largely because the company had been paying lower tax overseas. Apple is also thought to have more than $50bn of profits outside the US as of September 30, 2011.  Ernst &amp;amp; Young tax partner Chris Sanger told The Telegraph that multinational corporations such as Apple will soon have to &amp;quot;justify themselves&amp;quot; to the tax authorities in many countries.  However, he noted that finding the right level of tax to pay by corporate companies was tricky because their intellectual property was based overseas.  &amp;quot;When the bulk of research and development, investment and innovation comes from the US, it&amp;#039;s quite right the UK won&amp;#039;t take its [tax] fill,&amp;quot; he said.  Sanger said that instead the government should focus on encouraging investment in Britain so that UK businesses can develop their own intellectual property. Meanwhile, Apple is expected to unveil another set of record breaking results on April 24 for the first quarter of 2012, buoyed by the latest model of the iPad.  &amp;gt; Apple&amp;#039;s new iPhone &amp;#039;to feature sleek, unibody casing&amp;#039; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/apple/news/a375743/apple-faces-tax-scrutiny-in-britain/>