London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

Amazon Wins European Union Court Appeal In Luxembourg Tax Case

Amazon Wins European Union Court Appeal In Luxembourg Tax Case

The European Commission in 2017 accused Luxembourg of handing tax privileges to the internet retail giant that amounted to illegal state aid.

Amazon scored a major legal victory on Wednesday when an EU court annulled an order from the bloc's powerful antitrust authority that Luxembourg recoup 250 million euros ($295 million) in back taxes.

The European Commission in 2017 accused Luxembourg of handing tax privileges to the internet retail giant that amounted to illegal state aid.

But the EU General Court found "no selective advantage" had been given to the firm by the small EU Duchy, a statement said.

The setback for the EU lands less than a year after iPhone maker Apple spectacularly won its appeal in the same court against the European Commission's blockbuster order in 2016 that Apple repay Ireland 13 billion euros.

French energy giant Engie meanwhile lost its appeal on Wednesday in the same court against a similar EU order to repay Luxembourg 120 million euros in taxes.

In that case, the EU's General Court said the commission did demonstrate a tax advantage by Luxembourg to the company.

Amazon hails ruling


The cases came in the wake of the 2014 LuxLeaks revelations that unearthed secret deals between Luxembourg and hundreds of companies guaranteeing super low tax bills.

In the Amazon case, in 2017 Europe's competition chief Margrethe Vestager Luxembourg of an illegal deal with the internet giant to pay less tax than other businesses.

In a statement, Amazon said "we welcome the Court's decision, which is in line with our long-standing position that we followed all applicable laws and that Amazon received no special treatment".

At the heart of the case was a violation of the so-called "arm's length principle", which for tax purposes is meant to ensure that transactions between subsidiaries are based on prices other companies would pay.

The court said that the EU's methods for calculating the advantage was "based on an analysis which is incorrect in several respects," the statement said.

The European Commission was not immediately available for comment, but it has previously said that win or lose its cases have had a positive effect, with international efforts currently under way to close tax loopholes.

In recent weeks, the United States has embraced the idea of a global minimum corporate tax that would make special deals offered to multinationals a thing of the past.

Talks are ongoing at the OECD to decide on the minimum tax that if confirmed would likely see higher taxes for US tech giants and other multinationals.

The EU has had trouble defending those decisions, losing against Apple, but also in its case against Starbucks.

The commission appealed the EU General Court's decision in the Apple case, which will now go to the EU's highest body, the European Court of Justice.

The lower court similarly struck down an order by Brussels that Starbucks pay 30 million euros in back taxes in the Netherlands, but upheld a decision against Fiat in Luxembourg.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
×