Amazon wins tax dispute with EU Commission before the European Court of Justice
In 2017, the Commission decided that Amazon should repay 250 million euros to Luxembourg. According to the Commission, the tax base had been underestimated and almost three quarters of Amazon's profits had not been taxed. Both the group and the country appealed against the decision before the General Court of the European Union, which ruled in their favor in May 2021.
It found that Luxembourg had not granted Amazon a selective advantage. It therefore annulled the Commission's decision. The Commission appealed against this to the next higher instance, the ECJ. The latter has now confirmed the judgment of the General Court.
In an initial reaction to the ECJ ruling, Oxfam tax expert Chiara Putaturo explained that it was an "early Christmas present for Amazon". If countries allowed international corporations to avoid their tax obligations, they would be teaming up with super-rich company owners and the rest would have to foot the bill.
For years,Luxembourg has been accused of tying international corporations to itself through favorable tax agreements. In advance tax rulings, the country gives corporations assurances about the tax assessment of certain circumstances, such as license fees paid abroad. In the so-called LuxLeaks scandal, whistleblowers published numerous such tax rulings at the end of 2014.
The EU Commission then announced that it would look more closely into the issue in order to ensure fair tax competition between member states. Luxembourg always rejected the accusations and emphasized that other countries were taking a similar approach.
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Source: www.stern.de
