European antitrust watchdogs have serious doubts about Amazon’s cosy arrangement with Luxemburg to dodge its taxes.
According to a report released today, the European Commission believes the Amazon deal constituted state aid and doubted that such aid was lawful.
The European Commission, which rules on competition and subsidies in the European Union, announced in October that it had opened an investigation into a tax ruling struck in 2003. It published details of its case on Friday.
The 23-page document, which was penned in October 7, concluded that Luxemburg gave Amazon an unfair advantage over European competition.
“The Commission’s preliminary view is that the tax ruling of 5 November 2003 by Luxemburg in favour of Amazon constitutes state aid… and the Commission has doubts at this stage as to that ruling’s compatibility with the internal market.”
