The coffee giant Starbucks and Italian carmaker Fiat are expected to feel the European Commission’s wrath this week over their sweetheart tax deals with Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The decisions are likely to be the first of a series by the commission, covering such companies as Apple and Amazon, who may find themselves paying billions in back taxes.
The commission’s powerful competition services could make their first announcement tomorrow, with Fiat facing around €150 million (£110 million) in tax repayments and Starbucks around €20 million.
With Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, cancelling a scheduled visit to China citing pressing job-related matters, speculation is rife that the regulator is ready to announce the end of a two-year investigation into the preferential tax treatment from Dutch and Luxembourg authorities.
The commission said earlier this year that Starbucks may have avoided taxes when one of its Dutch units paid millions of euros to a UK-based arm of the company for a technique to roast coffee beans. Starbucks insists it complies “with all relevant rules, laws and OECD guidelines”, and pays a global effective tax rate of around 33 per cent. In Fiat’s case, the commission questioned Luxembourg’s arrangement with one of its units, Fiat Finance & Trade.
Full content: The Guardian
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
EU’s Incoming Competition Head Pushes for Policy Shift to Support ‘European Champions
Sep 19, 2024 by
CPI
Google Challenges $217 Million Legal Fee Demand in Privacy Case
Sep 19, 2024 by
CPI
EU Moves to Enforce Apple’s Compliance with New Market Rules
Sep 19, 2024 by
CPI
California Attorney General Bonta Stands Firm Against Albertsons-Kroger Merger
Sep 19, 2024 by
CPI
New FTC Report Highlights Privacy Risks in Social Media Data Use
Sep 19, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Canada & Mexico
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI
Competitive Convergence: Mexico’s 30-Year Quest for Antitrust Parity with its Northern Neighbor
Sep 3, 2024 by
Francisco Javier Núñez Melgoza
Competition and Digital Markets in North America: A Comparative Study of Antitrust Investigations in Mexico and the United States
Sep 3, 2024 by
Julio Garcia
Recent Antitrust Development in Mexico: COFECE’s Preliminary Report on Amazon and Mercado Libre
Sep 3, 2024 by
Alejandra Palacios Prieto
The Cost of Making COFECE Disappear
Sep 3, 2024 by
Mateo Fernández