EU: No member state safe from tax deal scrutiny

The European Commission has widened its investigation into nations’ tax relationships with foreign companies to include every Member State, say reports.

The investigation, which first launched to look into tax deals made between companies and Luxembourg, Ireland and the Netherlands, now includes all EU nations, the regulator announced Wednesday. As such, the Commission has reportedly asked all Member States to provide a list of every company granted a tax ruling between 2010 and 2013.

”We need a full picture of the tax-rulings practices in the EU to identify if and where competition in the single market is being distorted through selective tax advantages,” EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.

The saga began earlier this year when Ireland’s tax agreements with Apple, Luxembourg’s agreements with Amazon and Fiat, and the Netherlands’ deals with Starbucks came under fire on claims tax breaks given to foreign firms constituted illegal state aid and gave the companies an unfair advantage over domestic competition.

Full content: Bloomberg

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