Press Release: State aid: Commission opens formal investigation into UK property tax on telecommunications

The European Commission opened a formal investigation on 19 January 2005 to assess the way in which a property tax is applied to British Telecommunications (BT) and Kingston Communications (Kingston) in the United Kingdom (UK). In particular, the Commission intended to examine whether the way in which the so-called 'business rates' tax was levied on telecommunications infrastructure belonging to BT and Kingston complied with EC Treaty rules requiring Member States not to grant aids or subsidies and did not distort competition in relation to other telecommunications operators.