EC INVESTIGATIONS ON TAX

Alphabetical Listing (Non-Exhaustive)

1. Alphabet’s Google
2. Amazon
3. Anheuser-Busch InBev
4. Apple
5. Atlas Copco
6. BASF
7. BP
8. Celio
9. Engie
10. Fiat
11. Ikea
12. McDonald’s
13. Proximus
14. Starbucks
15. Wabco

Cases

1. Transfer prices, which do not reflect economic reality: Tax rulings endorsing transfer prices which do not reflect the conditions that apply between independent companies at arm’s length. Granting of selective tax advantages to companies in breach of EU State aid rules. Excess profit rule systems contrary to EU state aid rules.
2. Profit allocation methods, which do not reflect economic reality: Receiving illegal tax benefits because the tax rulings endorse a method to internally allocate profits within two group companies, which do not have any factual or economic justification.
3. Inconsistent application of national law, giving rise to a discretionary double non-taxation: Inconsistent application of national tax law endorsed in the tax rulings, leading to double non-taxation. Exempting a company's income from taxation on the basis that it is  taxed  elsewhere (e.g. in the US), despite the tax authorities' knowledge that it is in fact not taxed in the US.