Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion giant, saw €8.8 billion worth of US revenue move through an Irish subsidiary in 2023, fresh company accounts show.
The financial statements for Infinite Fashion ecommerce Limited had revenues of €8.8 billion in 2023, up from €7.2 billion the year before.
The accounts show that €8 billion of its revenue came from the sale of products, with €722.4 million from the sale of services.
The company had gross profits of €641 million, up from €360 million the year before, but after various expenses its pretax profit for the year stood at €75.4 million up from €61.5 million in 2022. Infinite Fashion had retained earnings of €111.8 million.
The company also paid a higher tax bill in 2023, up from €13.5 million 2022 to €21.8 million, the accounts show.
Last year was the first year in which the company operated under the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting regulations, designed to prevent multinational corporations from reducing their tax liabilities by moving their profits to jurisdictions with a lower tax rate.
The accounts show that it paid substantially more for tax advisory services during the year, which cost it €638,525, compared to €17,500 the year before.
The same was true of a related company, Infinite Styles ecommerce Co Limited, through which the company moved €7.6 billion in European revenue in 2023.
That company paid corporation tax of €21.9 million in 2023, up from €5.79 million the year before, and its bill for tax advisory services rose from €80,000 in 2022 to €213,194 in 2023.
Shein, which has been on a major expansion drive worldwide lately, has been severely criticised in recent times over claims that it uses forced labour by Uyghur Muslims in China.
In one such criticism a number of members of congress in the US criticised the company over its business practices, including a business model that “harvests vast amounts of consumer data” and for “utilising underpaid labour in its supplier factories and violating human rights”.
While in the UK, the law firm Leigh Day, representing a charity called Stop Uyghur Genocide, wrote to the Financial Conduct Authority asking it to block Shein’s application for a listing on the London Stock Exchange, claiming that the “use of forced labour in supply chains would be unlawful under the Modern Slavery Act and would mean that Shein would have to explain company profits in light of proceeds of crime laws”.
[ It is time for Ireland to speak out against China’s treatment of UyghursOpens in new window ]
Shein has denied that any such forced labour is used in its supply chain. When asked by The Irish Times, a spokesman said: “Shein is committed to ensuring the fair and dignified treatment of workers and prohibits child or forced labour within our supply chain.”
Infinite Fashion employed 377 people during the year and had a total wage bill of €56.6 million, made up of €53 million in wages and salaries and €3.5 million in social insurance costs. The majority of those employees were based in the US. Shein employs about 40 people in Ireland.
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