The General Court of the European Union on May 12 issued a judgment annulling a European Commission decision finding that Amazon owed EUR 250 million (approximately USD 300 million) in unpaid taxes to Luxembourg. The court determined that the Commission failed to demonstrate that a Luxembourg tax ruling supporting Amazon’s transfer pricing methodology created an unfair advantage to Amazon under EU state aid law.
The Commission did score a win in another tax-related state aid judgment issued by the court on the same day. In that case, the General Court, approving the Commission’s decision, determined that tax rulings granted by Luxembourg to Engie, a French utility company, created a illegal tax advantage. Preferential tax treatment in Engie’s case resulted from Luxembourg’s non-application of national provisions relating to abuse of law, the court concluded.
MNE Tax expects to publish an in-depth look at these two cases shortly.
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