We know that there is still some time left for Christmas holidays and everyone at Amazon must be very eager to celebrate the biggest festival of the year. But we can tell you that Christmas came a few days early for Amazon because EU’s top court has ruled in favor of Amazon in a long-standing tax battle with the European Commission and has overturned the pending case of over €250mn in taxes to be paid by the company. It was alleged by the EU against Amazon that the company received special favors to operate with its member states.
As per report from FT, “The EU’s top court ruled on Thursday that the commission could not force Amazon to pay €250mn in back taxes to Luxembourg, dismissing the argument that the US ecommerce group’s tax arrangements amounted to illegal state aid. The decision by the European Court of Justice, which upheld the findings of a lower court, could also hit a long-running dispute aimed at forcing Apple to pay back €14.3bn in tax to Ireland. An ECJ ruling in the case is expected next year”. EU’s top court also added that “The Court of Justice confirms that the commission has not established that the tax ruling given to Amazon by Luxembourg was a state aid that was incompatible with the internal market”. It is also worth noting that this ruling is final and no appeals can be made against this judgement which means that Amazon has avoided paying this taxes.
Chiara Putaturo, EU tax expert, said in a statement that “Amazon got an early Christmas present this year, as the company dodged its decade-old tax bill to Luxembourg and can continue to till this day”. “This is why the EU must come forward with real tax reforms.” After this verdict, EU also stated that it “takes note of today’s judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union confirming the 2021 judgment of the General Court which annulled the commission’s 2017 decision”. Amazon welcomed this decision and said that the ruling confirmed that the company “followed all applicable laws and received no special treatment”.
