EU: Luxembourg will appeal against tax ruling on Fiat

Luxembourg said on Friday it will appeal an EU ruling that Italian auto giant must pay around 30 million euros ($34 million) in back taxes after benefiting from an illegal tax break from the small Duchy.

“The Luxembourg government today has decided to appeal the European Commission?s decision in the Fiat case, in order to seek legal clarity and predictability on the practice of tax rulings,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The European Union in October ordered Fiat as well as coffee maker Starbucks in the Netherlands to each repay up to 30 million euros in back taxes in a landmark tax avoidance case pursued in the wake of the LuxLeaks scandal.

The investigations, which also include Amazon and Apple in Ireland widened further on Thursday with the EU’s decision to probe the tax deals between Luxembourg and the US fast food giant McDonald’s.

Luxembourg said that it was unfairly targeted by the European Commission in the Fiat case for a practice that was common in “vast majority” of EU members states.

Full content: The Wall Street Journal

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