Online tax scheme. In May 2013, M&S faced criticism from tax campaigners over the way it structures its online sales to Europe. The Group has been expanding its online operations to several countries across Europe (see Strategy), but its structure involves shipping goods from the UK while invoicing the transaction to Ireland, which has the lowest corporation tax rates in Europe. The Group's UK branch is paid a wholesale price for the goods it ships by M&S Ireland, and this is subject to UK corporation tax, but the rest of the retail markup is subject to Ireland's much lower rate of 12.5%. The disclosure came amid mounting cross-party political focus on corporate tax avoidance, and tax campaigners have been angered by the revelations, accusing M&S of “trading off its British reputation