The UK-based developer of Washington Mall has been slammed for tax avoidance.

The multibillion dollar Peel Group — which owns 40 percent of the Hamilton shop and office complex — has come under fire for using offshore registration to cut its tax bill.

The firm — which owns hundreds of companies in the UK and has assets of around $30 billion — is controlled by a private family trust based in the Isle of Man.

Bermuda College economics lecturer Craig Simmons said the case risked landing Bermuda back in the spotlight over tax following a row over internet giant Google’s use of Bermuda to avoid corporate tax in the UK.

Mr Simmons said: “It puts a target on Bermuda’s back unfortunately — when you open a business, you can’t always determine who walks through the door.

“As with Google, there is nothing illegal, but people do have issues with what you could call financial piracy and it draws unnecessary attention to the Island.”

Peel Group founder, tycoon John Whittaker, who lives on the Isle of Man, owns 75 percent of the firm, with the remainder owned by the Saudi Arabian Olayan Group.

UK accountant Richard Murphy, the founder of the Tax Justice Network, said: “It is a UK-based company that does the development but it is owned by an offshore company and not paying tax on that capital gains as a result.

“Those are the ways that they are likely to be taking profit out of the UK.

“All of them are legal. We have a tax system that is effectively encouraging companies to set up offshore.”

The Peel Group came under fire last year from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and its chairman, MP Margaret Hodge, who has been a fierce critic of major companies like Google, which avoids tax by funnelling profits to Bermuda.

And the committee criticised publicly-funded national broadcaster the BBC, which rents MediaCityUK in Manchester from the firm.

A PAC report said: “The BBC’s relationship with significant partner organisations also involves potential reputational risks for the BBC, for example, the extent to which partner organisations are transparent about their tax status in the UK and the amount of tax they pay.

“It should also make clear its expectation that, as an organisation founded by the licence fee, it expects companies with which it contracts to pay their fair share of tax.”

Ms Hodge said her committee was “concerned by the tax habits” of the Peel Group.

She added: “The most profitable parts of the Peel Group are managing to pay no UK corporation tax whilst those bits making less profits are at least paying some.

“At the maximum, they pay ten percent tax. They do not pay their fair share of tax.”

A spokesman for the Peel Group said: “The Peel Group would like to make it clear that it rejects any assertion that it is not paying its fair share of corporation tax.

“All Peel operating businesses, including Peel Media, the developers and owners of MediaCityUK, are UK domiciled for taxation purposes and pay the appropriate level of UK tax.”

The firm — which also has property investments in Spain and the Bahamas — has significant property interests across the UK and owns shopping centres, media facilities, including Mersey Docks in Liverpool and airports in Durham and Doncaster.

The Island hit the headlines internationally last year after it was revealed that Google minimises tax in the UK — where it pays $6 million a year on a turnover of $395 million — by using its UK operation as an agent of its Irish subsidiary.

Proceeds of sales made in the UK go to Ireland and commission of around 10 percent is paid back to the UK operation, which is taxable once costs have been deducted.

Google Ireland then channels much of the money it makes to its Bermudian operation as a licensing fee, ensuring a large proportion of its cash ends up on the Island. The process is legal under current UK tax laws.

Other firms like coffee chain Starbucks and online store Amazon also came under fire for as using tactics which are legal — but branded “aggressive” and “immoral” — to transfer profits across borders to minimise taxation.