| Author (Corporate) | European Commission: DG Communication |
|---|---|
| Series Title | Press Release |
| Series Details | IP/17/3701 (04.10.17) |
| Publication Date | 04/10/2017 |
| Content Type | News |
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Background and further information: The European Commission launched this investigation in October 2014 and concluded that a tax ruling issed by Luxembourg in 2003, and prolonged in 2011, lowered the tax paid by Amazon in the country without any valid justification. The Commission's investigation showed that the level of the royalty payments, endorsed by the tax ruling, was inflated and did not reflect economic reality. On this basis, the Commission concluded that the tax ruling granted a selective economic advantage to Amazon by allowing the group to pay less tax than other companies subject to the same national tax rules. In fact, the ruling enabled Amazon to avoid taxation on three quarters of the profits it made from all Amazon sales in the EU. This is illegal under EU State aid rules because it allowed Amazon to pay substantially less tax than other businesses. Luxembourg was told to recover the illegal aid. The European Commission announced on 4 October 2017 the conclusions of its investigation on corporate taxation related to Amazon in Luxembourg, which revealed that the country had granted undue tax benefits to the company of around €250 million. |
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| Source Link | http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-3701_en.htm |
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| Subject Categories | Internal Markets, Taxation |
| Countries / Regions | Europe, Luxembourg |
