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McDonald's under EU scrutiny for tax rulings in Luxembourg Sorry - this page has been removed.
(about 2 months later)
McDonald’s tax affairs in Europe are under scrutiny by European Union officials after labour unions accused the US fast food chain of failing to pay its dues, a person involved in the issue said on Tuesday. This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason.
EU antitrust regulators have asked Luxembourg for information on its tax rulings, according to sources. Neither the EU nor Luxembourg would immediately confirm the enquiries.
The proceedings fall well short of the probes the EU has instigated against other US multinationals in Luxembourg and elsewhere, where officials believe unfairly low taxation may have distorted competition. It does, however, put the hamburger restaurant group’s financial arrangements into the spotlight. For further information, please contact:
Unions from the US, Europe and British-based charity War on Want last month urged the European Commission to investigate issues with about 1bn euros ($1.07bn) in tax between 2009 and 2013.
“The commission has sent a letter to Luxembourg asking them to clarify the facts,” the source told Reuters.
McDonald’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Luxembourg government said he was not aware of the letter. A commission spokesman declined comment on whether a letter was sent to Luxembourg about McDonald’s.
The commission’s competition authority last year launched four investigations into whether deals struck with three national taxation authorities in the EU – known as tax rulings – constituted illegal state aid for the firms concerned.
If proven, those cases could land Apple, Amazon, Fiat and Starbucks with big bills for back taxes.
A spokesman for competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “Combating tax evasion and avoidance is a top priority ... The commission is taking a structured approach when using its state aid enforcement powers to investigate where it believes that selective tax advantages distort fair competition.”
The commission, headed since November by Jean-Claude Juncker, has moved to insist on all 28 member states making tax arrangements with multinational firms more transparent. It says it plans further regulation this year to prevent what critics say have been schemes that benefit global firms and some small states at the expense of government revenues in other countries.
Juncker himself, who was finance minister and prime minister of Luxembourg for a quarter-century, has deflected criticism for his country’s use of tax rulings to attract foreign businesses and says his priority is a level playing field across Europe.