Amazon was hit with an order to repay as much as 250 million, plus interest, after the European Commission said Luxembourg illegally slashed the company’s bill, making the world’s biggest online retailer the latest U. S. giant to fall afoul of the EU’s state-aid rules.
‘Luxembourg gave illegal tax benefits to Amazon’ and ‘as a result, almost three-quarters of Amazon’s profits were not taxed,’ EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in an emailed statement, adding that ‘Amazon was allowed to pay four times less tax than other local companies subject to the same national tax rules’ and ‘this is illegal under EU State aid rules.’
.@amazon tax benefits in Luxembourg are illegal under our common European rules on state aid. Amazon to repay benefits worth around 250 mio
— Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) October 4, 2017
EU explained that the Luxembourg tax ruling given to Amazon in 2003 and prolonged in 2011, lowered the online retail giant’s tax paid in the country ‘without any valid justification.’ The Luxembourg tax pact gave Amazon a ‘selective economic advantage’ by allowing the online retailer’s group ‘to avoid taxation on three-quarters of the profits it made from all Amazon sales in the EU,’ EU says in statement.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Oct 4, 2017.
Follow on Twitter
Recent Comments