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May 13, 2021: -Amazon won its appeal against the European Commission on Wednesday, who ordered the U.S. tech giant to pay back 250 million euros in taxes to Luxembourg.
The EU’s general court said that the commission, the EU’s executive arm, fails to prove an unfair tax advantage given to Amazon by Luxembourg. The U.S. firm has its European subsidiary.
In 2017, the Brussels-based institution said that Luxembourg had granted undue tax benefits to Amazon. The commission said that Amazon was allowed to pay four times less tax than other local companies subject to the same national rules. Amazon contested that assessment.
“We welcome the Court’s decision, which is in line with our long-standing position that we followed all applicable laws and that Amazon did not receive treatment,” the company’s spokesperson told CNBC on Wednesday.
The institution will decide to appeal the court ruling and take the case to the EU’s highest court.
The recent court ruling is the second one in less than a year, where the outcome indicates the commission has not proven any tax advantage.
The EU’s general court says that the EU’s team led by Margrethe Vestager could not prove that the Irish government had given a tax advantage to Apple. In 2016, the commission ordered Apple to repay some 13 billion euros in unpaid taxes.
The commission then decided to take this case to the European Court of Justice while simultaneously studying ways to sharpen up its toolkit to combat describing it as unfair market competition.
In this context, Currently, European lawmakers are debating two legislative proposals which could bring about sweeping changes. Under these proposals, the EU aims to enforce remedies that will lead to practical changes instead of fining those that constantly breach the rules.
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