image. The coffee store chain insists it pays the correct level of taxes. The group Chief Executive, Howard Schultz, has said in a statement: “Starbucks has always paid taxes in the UK despite recent suggestions to the contrary. “Over the last three years alone, our company has paid more than £160m in various taxes, including National Insurance contributions, VAT and business rates.” Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, told parliament last month that Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google and Starbucks had avoided nearly £900m of tax. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, responded to the claim by saying: “I’m not happy with the current situation. I think [HMRC] needs to look at it very carefully. We do need to make sure we are encouraging these businesses to invest in our country as they are, but they should be paying fair taxes as well.” A spokeswoman for Starbucks said: “While the subject of tax law can be extremely complex, Starbucks respects and complies with tax laws and accounting rules in each of the 61 countries where we do business, including the UK – a market that we remain committed to for the long term. We’ve posted the facts about our tax practices in the UK on our website. “Starbucks’ economic impact in the UK goes far beyond our stores and partners [employees]. We spend hundreds of millions of pounds with local suppliers