Gadgets Amazon Probed by EU, Following Charges Over Apple's "Double Irish" Tax Evasion

From DailyTech: The European Union (EU) made waves late last month when its antitrust regulators -- a part of the trade-regulating body known as the European Commission (EC) -- issued a preliminary finding of guilt against America's largest and most profitable tech company, Apple, Inc. (AAPL).

The filing highlighted tax loopholes in Ireland and the Netherlands that allowed foreign companies like Apple to pay nearly no taxes (a 2 to 3 percent effective rate) on their profits in the EU. While several companies, including Google Inc. (GOOG) had used/abused similar tactics, Apple was targeted as its gains far exceeded the others, with the EU estimating it dodged $9B USD in taxes per year with the tactics (Google, likely the next worst offender only pocketed about a sixth that amount -- roughly $1.5B USD per year -- using similar strategies).

In the wake of that incendiary ruling, the European Commission added more fuel to the fire this week. EC Vice President Joaquín Almunia, the EU's head of competition, has opened a new investigation into Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) over a slightly different scheme. His office reports:

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to examine whether the decision by Luxembourg's tax authorities with regard to the corporate income tax to be paid by Amazon in Luxembourg comply with the EU rules on state aid.

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