Big bonus scheme to reduce Facebook's tax obligation

Facebook was set to hand out share bonuses worth £280m to its staff, it was revealed on Monday, in a scheme which would significantly reduce its tax obligations.

Broken down by employee numbers, the bonuses would be worth a whopping £775,000 each on average over the next two years.

The revelations came just days after the social media giant moved to appease the British electorate over its minuscule tax bill.

On Friday, the company said it would account for revenues from its largest UK advertisers - including Tesco, Sainsbury's and WPP - in the UK itself, rather than Ireland.

Combined with a £21.4m tax relief and other arrangements, the bonuses could see the company pay just £4m a year into Her Majesty's coffers.

The technology firm's tax avoiding tactics first came to light in 2014, when it paid just £4,327 in corporation tax. A year later, it took in revenue of £27,000 from HMRC for advertisements placed on the network.