Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Analysis Featured News

European Commission ends state aid case against Amazon with no tax payout

post-img

Amazon won’t need to pay the European Union €250 million ($263 million) in back taxes. On Wednesday, the bloc’s executive branch said it was closing three separate state aid investigations, including one involving Amazon. The decision ends one of the company’s longest-running legal sagas.

In 2017, the European Commission found that, from 2006 to 2014, Amazon had used an operating company in Luxembourg to pay substantially less tax to the European Union. The shell company had no offices or staff, and was, according to the Commission, used solely by Amazon to lower its tax bill. By the Commission’s estimate, the e-commerce giant avoided taxation on three quarters of all the profit it made from online sales in the EU during that period.

In 2021, however, Amazon won an appeal against the ruling. Although the company changed its tax structure following the investigation, it argued at the time that the Commission’s decision was full of “methodological errors.” It also said the payments were legal per international tax principles, an argument Europe’s second-highest court agreed with after finding Amazon’s structure didn’t confer it an advantage over other companies. Subsequently, the court ordered the Commission’s decision annulled.

With this week’s announcement, the Commission said it was “taking into account the guidance of the EU Courts” in closing the case against Amazon. Amazon did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request.

While the end of its case against Amazon is a setback for the European Commission, earlier this year the body won a decisive victory against Apple. In September, Europe’s highest court ordered the tech giant to pay back a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) tax break from Ireland that was found to be illegal in 2016.

Related Post