The European Commission on Monday opened an in-depth investigation into the corporate tax structure in the Netherlands of Inter IKEA, one of the two divisions of the Swedish furniture giant. The Commission fears that two Dutch rulings may have enabled IKEA to pay less tax and given it an unfair advantage over other companies, in violation of European Union regulations on state aid.
The European Commissioner in charge of competition, Margrethe Vestager, said: “All companies, big or small, multinational or not, should pay their fair share of tax. Member States cannot let selected companies pay less tax by allowing them to artificially shift their profits elsewhere We will now carefully investigate the Netherlands’ tax treatment of Inter IKEA.”
The opening of the in-depth investigation enables the Netherlands and other interested third-parties to submit comments. It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation, the Commission said.
The Brussels Times
