Google is "trying to do the right thing, not the wrong thing" says Eric Schmidt in response to Ed Milliband
Google boss Eric Schmidt has responded to Ed Milliband’s criticisms of the search provider calling for the Labour leader to “sort out” the tax system.
Following Milliband’s comments in which he told Google “don’t be evil” Schmidt explained that Google followed “the tax laws of the countries we operate in” and that Google will “continue to invest in the UK, no matter what,” despite being one of a number of multinationals whose UK profits are routed via Ireland.
Milliband’s earlier comments were put to Schmidt at the Google Big Tent event in Hertfordshire to which he responded: “I don't think companies should decide what tax policies should be. I think governments should.
“All of us are operating in a very, very longstanding tax regime which was set up for various reasons that don't necessarily make sense to me or anyone else. But they are the way the global tax regime works.
“We are trying to do the right thing. We are not trying to do the wrong thing. We completely endorse the idea of having a big debate at the G8, the G20 and so forth and so on. People have to sort this out.”
He added that the UK remained important to Google and that investment in the country will continue “no matter what you do, because the UK is too important to us.”