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26 Nov, 2013

EU moves to close tax loophole used by Google, Amazon and Starbucks – The Independent

The European Commission has announced plans to close a loophole which has allowed large corporations to pay tax in countries with lower rates, even if they only own one letterbox there.

As part of efforts to get companies to pay a fair share of tax in the countries where they make most of their profits, Algirdas Semeta, the EU’s Taxation Commissioner, proposed amending the bloc’s corporate tax legislation to introduce an anti-abuse clause for countries trying to shift money to a subsidiary abroad to cut their tax bills. While tax evasion is illegal, what is known as “aggressive tax planning” is widely used by firms including Google, Amazon, Starbucks and Apple.

Read the rest: EU Commission moves to close corporate tax loophole used by Google, Amazon and Starbucks – Europe – World – The Independent.