C77 - It's a UK vs. US english thing (i've run into it many times in global forums) and a battle you can't win - a draw is the best you can expect.
In "the King's English," corporations are usually treated as plural entities, an association of multiple individuals, a "they." It may be related to the royal "We."
We in the US (including me) subsume the individuals into one entity, an "it" - a curiously "collectivist" approach for our ruggedly-individualistic society to take, but there it is.
And certainly in a phrase such as "Did Boeing pay its/their taxes?" - the singular is clearer about whose taxes are under scrutiny, and who might pay a fine (presumably not each individual employee).
