World's tax collectors look to divide up US tech giants' billions

Companies including Google and Amazon have been changing their tax structures to declare more profits

The world’s tax collectors have been gunning for Silicon Valley. Now they’re trying to figure out how to divide up the spoils.

For years, US tech giants like Alphabet and Facebook have shifted around profit so they pay little income tax in many countries where they operate. More than $600 billion in profits, or 40 per cent of multinational profits, were shifted in 2015 to low-tax countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands and Bermuda, according to one estimate.

But dozens of countries are now considering new taxes aimed at the largest tech firms. That is putting pressure on the US to cut