The government of the Netherlands said Friday it would appeal last month's decision by the European Union that its tax ruling with Starbucks Corp. amounts to illegal state aid.

In a letter to Dutch parliament, Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said he isn't convinced by the European Commission's arguments and wants to provide clarity on the government's practice of tax rulings for international corporations.

On October 21st, the EU's executive arm ordered Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to pay back tens of millions of euros in unpaid taxes.

The unprecedented move cast uncertainty over thousands of similar tax deals struck by multinationals across Europe.

The commission said the tax deals the Netherlands made with Starbucks and Luxembourg made with Fiat were illegal because they "endorsed artificial and complex methods to establish taxable profits for the companies, that "do not reflect economic reality."

Luxembourg's government has also said it disagreed with the EU's decision.

According to Mr. Dijsselbloem's letter, the commission reached its conclusion after applying new criteria to rules for calculating profits between subsidiaries.

The criteria aren't in line with Dutch national legislation or guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the ministry said, adding that it hopes to clear up the legal uncertainty both for companies and for the government through the appeal.

"The Dutch government greatly values its practice of offering companies certainty on tax issues in advance, fully in line with Dutch national legislation and OECD guidelines," Mr. Dijsselbloem said in the letter to parliament.

Starbucks and Fiat didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the Dutch government's decision to appeal.

In October, Starbucks said it would appeal the decision and expressed concerns that it contained "serious flaws."

Mr. Dijsselbloem also stressed his willingness to support EU and OECD initiatives to battle tax evasion by multinational corporations, by increasing transparency and aligning national tax systems.

Write to Archie van Riemsdijk at archie.vanriemsdijk@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 27, 2015 15:15 ET (20:15 GMT)

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