BRUSSELS--European Union regulators will explain Friday why they
believe Amazon.com Inc.'s tax arrangements in Luxembourg violated
EU law, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.
The European Commission, the bloc's top antitrust regulator,
opened a formal probe in October to examine whether a tax deal
granted to Amazon in Luxembourg amounted to illegal state support
for the company. If those suspicions are confirmed, Luxembourg
could be required to recover from Amazon any funds that amount to
selective state subsidies, which are illegal under EU law.
The investigation is part of a wider EU clampdown on allegedly
illegal tax sweeteners that has also ensnared Apple Inc. in
Ireland, Fiat SpA in Luxembourg and Starbucks Corp. in the
Netherlands.
The commission has said it is concerned that a 2003 tax deal
granted to Amazon in Luxembourg-and still in force-effectively caps
the U.S. company's tax payments in the Grand Duchy.
Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Amazon.com, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0231351067
Access Investor Kit for Apple, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0378331005
Access Investor Kit for Starbucks Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US8552441094
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires