You will doubtless have already heard about the case the European Commission has laid against Apple. It has ruled that Ireland must recover up to €13 billion from Apple after finding the US tech company had been granted selective tax treatment in the republic.
It’s a legal nightmare that Apple will fight and that the Irish government seems reluctant to address, despite the potential windfall.
And in an interview Margarethe Vestager, who acts as the EU’s competition Commissioner, says that more global companies are under scrutiny. Whilst Google is under the microscope, the case is still being developed. Amazon looks likely to be a target sooner.
In an interview with Euractiv, she said: “when it comes to tax rulings in the pipeline we have Amazon and McDonald’s, which are also very well-known US companies.”
We shall wait and see.
