A senior Google executive has told MPs that he understands public anger over reports of the internet giant's tax payments, but insisted it paid tax at 20% like any other company operating in the UK.
But Matt Brittin came under attack from the chairwoman of an influential House of Commons committee after he told her he did not know how much he was paid.
Google has insisted the £130 million UK tax deal with HMRC is "fair".
The company's finance boss Tom Hutchinson said the figure was the largest tax settlement following an audit ever paid by Google outside the US.
He added the firm had not incurred any fines because HMRC determined they had a "reasonable argument" for the amount of profit they were showing.
"HMRC looks and sees, are we just ignoring the rules? Or did we interpret the rules in a reasonable way?" he said.
"And they determined we did, and that's why there was no penalty."
Google says it plays by the rules, HM Revenue & Customs seems satisfied, the trouble is MPs don't seem to believe that HMRC is competent.
Concerns about the way Google and other multinationals pay tax have been around for at least three years.