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| EU orders Amazon to pay €250m bill over 'unfair' tax breaks in Luxembourg | EU orders Amazon to pay €250m bill over 'unfair' tax breaks in Luxembourg |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The European Union has ordered Amazon to pay back about €250m (£221m) in taxes stemming from an unfair tax break the company was given by Luxembourg in 2003. | The European Union has ordered Amazon to pay back about €250m (£221m) in taxes stemming from an unfair tax break the company was given by Luxembourg in 2003. |
| “Luxembourg gave illegal tax benefits to Amazon. As a result, almost three quarters of Amazon’s profits were not taxed,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. | “Luxembourg gave illegal tax benefits to Amazon. As a result, almost three quarters of Amazon’s profits were not taxed,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. |
| "In other words, Amazon was allowed to pay four times less tax than other local companies subject to the same national tax rules. This is illegal under EU state aid rules. Member states cannot give selective tax benefits to multinational groups that are not available to others," she added. | |
| The bill had been predicted to be as much as €400m and the Commission said the exact amount has yet to be worked out by the Luxembourg authorities. | The bill had been predicted to be as much as €400m and the Commission said the exact amount has yet to be worked out by the Luxembourg authorities. |
| The Commission also announced it would refer Ireland to Europe's top court over its failure to recover up to €13bn (£11.5bn) of tax due from Apple. | |
| The EU competition authority said in 2014 that an Amazon subsidiary royalty to a Luxembourg-based entity which was not subject to the country’s tax regime. It said the royalty was not in line with market rates. | |
| Amazon revamped its European tax practices in 2015 so that it can book sales and pay taxes in Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy instead of channeling all sales through Luxembourg where it is headquartered, a move which may raise its tax bill. | |
| Fastfood chain McDonald’s and French energy company Engie are next in the EU crosshairs over their Luxembourg tax deals. |