Starbucks is embroiled in fresh controversy over its tax affairs after it was accused of using a little-known British company to avoid paying taxes across Europe . The U.S. coffee giant is being probed by the European Commission over some of the methods it used to lower its tax bills . It could face millions of pounds in back taxes if they are found to be illegal . For the first time yesterday , details emerged about the UK company at the heart of the probe , which is focusing on sweetheart tax deals between Starbucks and the Dutch government . Probe : Starbucks ran its European division - including the UK - through the Netherlands , but it paid just £1.9million in tax to the Dutch government , from a reported £300million profit . Starbucks ran its European business , including its booming UK division , through the Netherlands where it paid almost no tax on its profits . But it has now emerged that the coffee chain used a defunct British entity to hide potentially millions of pounds from the Dutch taxman . By registering its Intellectual Property – such as its brand and logo – in a UK company called Alki LP , it was able to pay hefty sums from its Netherlands division into Britain . Its Dutch division paid just £1.9million of tax , despite reporting profits of £300million – a meagre tax rate of less than 1per cent . A Wall Street Journal investigation has uncovered previously unknown details about the UK entity , including a claim that it had not a single registered employee . Starbucks has already been called ‘ immoral ’ by MPs for its labyrinthine structure that effectively funnelled money out of the UK . Schemes used by the company include buying its coffee beans in Switzerland and selling them at a 20per cent mark-up to the Netherlands , where they are then roasted before being sold on again to Britain . This means that much of the money it makes from UK sales flows into jurisdictions that have lower or less stringent tax regimes . Revealed : It is now claimed the company , which has previously been in the spotlight for its tax practices , may have used a British company to put hefty sums from its Netherlands branch into the UK . Between 1998 and 2012 the company paid just £8.6million in corporation tax in Britain , despite racking up combined sales of more than £3billion here . But after its tactics were exposed , the company offered to pay a voluntary £20million in tax to avoid a public boycott . Now details of a little-known tax division have emerged . A UK-registered holding business called Alki LP was set up to house the branding of the business . In a bizarre move , Alki appeared to have no employees – and was registered at the offices of Starbuck ’ s tax lawyers Baker & McKenzie . Compliance : A Starbucks spokesman said the company complies 'with all relevant tax rules , laws , and OECD guidelines ' But because of the very limited details available , it is impossible to identify how much money the arm received – or whether it paid any tax in the UK . Accounts for Starbucks ’ Dutch businesses show that they paid several million pounds a year into the division . But without access to full corporate documents it is impossible to tell whether this remained in the UK division or was funnelled straight into another tax haven . The business , which was closed down last year , has never filed proper accounts at Companies House . When it was dissolved , Alki was folded into a new company , Starbucks EMEA Holdings – though this business has also yet to file any accounts . This is an aspect that EU investigators believe is key to their probe . Earlier this year the British boss of Starbucks provoked outrage after suggesting the company would not pay ‘ normal ’ levels of tax for years . UK managing director Mark Fox said the company needed to get ‘ its mojo back ’ before it would begin to turn a profit . But he was confounded only weeks later when Starbucks reported its first ever UK profit of £1.1million – despite sales being a bumper £300million . On this it paid taxes of just £232,363 , as well as the sum of £11.2million as part of its voluntary £20million tax payment . A Starbucks spokesman said : ‘ We comply with all relevant tax rules , laws , and OECD guidelines and we continue to cooperate with the European Commission ’ s state aid investigation in the Netherlands . ’
Starbucks ran its European business - including UK - through Holland . But Dutch division paid just £1.9million tax on profits of £300million . Now details of UK company at heart of new probe have started to emerge . A Starbucks spokesman said it complies 'with all relevant tax rules , laws '