Journalists publish 35 more leaked Luxembourg tax rulings on the Internet

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on December 9 published on the Internet 35 more leaked Luxembourg private tax rulings. The documents originated from the big four accounting firms, as well as from smaller Luxembourg-based tax firms and law firms.

The newest additions to the list of embarrassed MNEs include the Walt Disney Company, Koch Industries Inc, Hutchison Whampoa, Warburg Pincus, and Skype. The documents cover the period from 2003 to 2011.

The leaked documents follow a November 5 release by the ICIJ of confidential tax documents of PwC clients, including 548 Luxembourg advance rulings and corporate tax returns of Luxembourg-based subsidiaries of MNEs. The data was accompanied by a series of news stories by ICIJ journalists that concluded that Luxembourg has been a long-time partner in multinational corporation tax avoidance.

The advance tax rulings were issued by Luxembourg to multinationals while the EU Commission’s new president, Jean-Claude Juncker, was the country’s prime minister. Juncker managed to survive a no-confidence vote in European parliament brought November 27 on account of the “Lux leak” revelations.

On November 20, the European Union’s new competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said she would investigate the first batch of leaked documents for state aid violations.

See:

• ICIJ – New Leak Reveals Luxembourg Tax Deals for Disney, Koch Brothers Empire, by Alison Fitzgerald and Marina Walker Guevara

Related MNE Tax articles:

• Journalists publish leaked PwC advance rulings and tax returns, conclude that Luxembourg aids tax avoidance

• EU’s Juncker survives censure motion over role in multinational tax avoidance

• EU Commission will scrutinize ‘Lux Leaks’ tax rulings for state aid violations, says competition chief