China’s Temu more than doubles EU profits to nearly $120m despite having only eight staff
The Chinese online marketplace Temu’s EU operations more than doubled pre-tax profits last year to just below $120m (£90m) despite employing just eight people, accounts show.They rose 171% in the 12 months to December 2024 compared with the $44.1m the year before, as shoppers snapped up its low-cost goods, which are widely promoted on social media.However, the company paid just $18m in corporation tax, almost $3m of which was a mandatory top-up tax brought in at the end of 2023 after the EU signed up to a global minimum tax rate for large companies.The accounts filed for the group’s Ireland-based EU parent group, Whaleco Technology, also show revenues rose to $1.
7bn, compared with $758m the previous year, before new controls on the super-budget retailer.Separate documents show Temu now has more than 115 million customers across the EU – equivalent to more than a quarter of the population.The figures emerged after separate accounts showed almost doubling profits and revenues at the online marketplace’s UK operations.The rise in sales comes before moves by the EU to close a loophole that allows packages worth less than €150 (£130) to avoid customs duty and some border checks.Last year, 4.
6bn low-value parcels entered the EU, equivalent to 12m a day, three times more than in 2022,More than 91% of parcels valued at less than €150 came from China, where Temu and its fellow low-cost seller Shein make and dispatch most of their goods,However, controls began to be tightened in July this year, and customs duty is expected to be applied from 2028,The US this summer abolished its “de minimis” exemption, which allowed goods worth less than $800 to skip import duty, to limit the rise of Temu and Shein, while the UK chancellor has said she is reviewing a similar loophole,Paul Monaghan, the chief executive of the Fair Tax Foundation, estimates that Temu’s Irish entity facilitated consumer sales of $10bn in the EU – as its revenue figure only accounts for the company’s commission and fees from independent sellers on its marketplace.
If Temu’s estimated $2bn in sales via its sellers are included in the UK, that would make the marketplace bigger than the UK retailer Next and about the same size as Primark.“Serious questions need to be asked as to why Temu has such a negligible economic and tax footprint in the UK and across Europe despite its enormous sales,” Monaghan said.“What we have here is a chain of companies in a series of tax havens, that have been structured so as to leave little or no tax benefit in Europe.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotion“The UK and other European governments need to move much more quickly to not only protect their tax base, but allow existing retailers to compete on a level playing field with these Chinese e-commerce giants that have overseas tax avoidance hard-wired into their structures.“Standing strong on the global minimum tax and digital services tax, reviewing customs duty exemptions and bolstering requirements for multinationals to publish a country-by-country breakdown of the taxes they pay would be a great place for politicians to start.
”A spokesperson for Temu said its operations in Ireland were “real operating companies employing real people” and the employee numbers did not reflect the full scale of its operation presence.“Temu categorically rejects any suggestion that our structure or operations are designed to avoid taxes or minimise our economic footprint in Europe.Despite being a young and fast-growing company still in the investment phase, we have already paid billions of euros in taxes across European jurisdictions, and that figure will continue to rise as our operations mature.“The tax figure cited refers only to the tax paid by a single legal entity and does not include customs duties, VAT, and other taxes.“Temu entered the European market just two years ago and has invested heavily in building its platform to connect sellers and consumers more efficiently, passing those efficiencies back to consumers in the form of lower prices on quality goods.
At the same time, we have been creating new growth opportunities for local sellers across Europe.“Our focus is on the long term: building a sustainable, compliant, and trusted platform that helps consumers access quality products at affordable prices while enabling local sellers across Europe to grow their businesses and reach new markets.”
China’s Temu more than doubles EU profits to nearly $120m despite having only eight staff
The Chinese online marketplace Temu’s EU operations more than doubled pre-tax profits last year to just below $120m (£90m) despite employing just eight people, accounts show.They rose 171% in the 12 months to December 2024 compared with the $44.1m the year before, as shoppers snapped up its low-cost goods, which are widely promoted on social media.However, the company paid just $18m in corporation tax, almost $3m of which was a mandatory top-up tax brought in at the end of 2023 after the EU signed up to a global minimum tax rate for large companies.The accounts filed for the group’s Ireland-based EU parent group, Whaleco Technology, also show revenues rose to $1
Global financial system vulnerable to shocks amid recent stock market surge, Bank of England chief warns – as it happened
The global financial system is vulnerable to shocks amid a recent surge in the price of shares and other assets, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned.Bailey, chairman of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the fiscal risk watchdog for the G20 group of nations, urged greater multilateral co-operation between nations to help support global financial systems.In a letter to G20 ministers, he said that increased debt levels and a failure to fully implement agreed financial reforms would lead to increased vulnerability.Bailey cautioned that there could be a “disorderly adjustment”, i.e
Markets rebound amid latest US-China tariff spat as traders look to possible ‘Taco trade’
Global stock markets have edged higher and cryptocurrencies rebounded amid signs that a new front in the US-China trade war may not be as severe as first feared.Tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated again on Friday and over the weekend, as Donald Trump threatened to impose additional US tariffs of 100% on China starting next month.The US president accused the country of “very hostile” moves to restrict exports of rare-earth minerals needed for American industry. Beijing said it would retaliate if Trump did not back down.However, Trump and senior US officials opened a door to a possible deal with China on Sunday
Greenpeace threatens to sue crown estate for driving up cost of offshore wind
Greenpeace is threatening to sue King Charles’s property management company, accusing it of exploiting its monopoly ownership of the seabed.The environmental lobby group alleges the crown estate has driven up costs for wind power developers and boosted its own profits, as well as the royal household’s income, due to the “aggressive” way it auctions seabed rights.The crown estate, as the legal owner of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is responsible for auctioning offshore wind rights. It has benefited from the huge growth in the industry, commanding hefty option fees from renewable energy developers to secure areas of the seabed to build their windfarms.It made a £1
Lloyds warns motor finance scandal could cost it nearly £2bn as bill rises
Lloyds Bank has put aside an extra £800m to deal with possible compensation claims over the motor finance scandal, with its total provision rising to almost £2bn.The bank, one of the most exposed to an ongoing scandal in which drivers were overcharged for loans as a result of commission paid to car dealers, had previously set aside £1.15bn to deal with potential costs.However, it said on Monday that an additional charge of £800m reflected an increased likelihood of further historical cases, particularly those affected by discretionary commission arrangements (known as DCAs), being eligible for compensation.The new estimate comes after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a 360-page consultation paper for its redress scheme
One of Europe’s biggest farm machinery firms halts US exports over ‘hidden’ tariffs
One of Europe’s biggest farm machinery companies, Krone, has been forced to pause exports of large equipment to the US because of “alarming” and little-known new tariffs that are hitting hundreds of products from knitting needles and hairdryers to combine harvesters.Among the products on the steel derivatives list drawn up in consultation with US manufacturers, Donald Trump is taxing 407 specific products ranging from tiny embroidery stilettos to cooker hoods, barbecues, fridges, freezers, dishwashers, hair curling tongs, grills, elevators, bridge and railway structures, agriculture equipment and wind turbines.It has meant that since 18 August, companies such as Krone and the construction company Liebherr in Germany have to provide an unprecedented level of detail to customs border authorities certifying the origin, weight and value of any steel in their products right down to nuts and bolts.“You have to get paperwork from the supplier to the supplier to the supplier. That is pretty much impossible,” said Oliver Richtberg, the head of foreign trade at the German engineering federation VDMA, one of the most influential trade bodies in Europe
Luther Burrell claims speaking out about racist abuse ended rugby career
Australia targets offshore wagering threat with major sporting events on horizon
Smith-Schuster left with bloody nose after Lions-Chiefs ends in ‘childish’ brawl
Brydon Carse reveals Stokes and Wood are close to 100% and ‘raring to go’ for Ashes
Pogacar rules cycling world with total pedal power after brushing off mid-season blues
Has Drake Maye ended the Patriots’ painful Tom Brady hangover?