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The European Commission has initiated an in-depth investigation on the agreements between the belgian Administration and 39 multinational, including Kinepolis, or Anheuser-Busch Inbev , to see if it led to an “unfair advantage” against the competition, reported this Monday by the Executive community.
Brussels has opened “investigations separate” in connection with agreements between companies and tax authorities, after the General Court of the EU noted this year that the compatibility of these agreements with the european rules on State aid should be assessed on an “individual”, said the Commission in a press release.
At the same time, the Executive community has been addressed to the Court of Justice of the EU to “have more clarity on the existence of a scheme of help” , as stated in a press release.
The in-depth research refer to the practices that the authorities of Belgium and the 39 companies that have most of their headquarters in the EU carried out between 2005 and 2014.
The rules belgian tax require businesses to be priced in function of the profit recorded by its activities in Belgium.
The preliminary opinion of Brussels is that, when you deduct the excess benefit of the tax base of the beneficiaries, the agreements in question did not apply correctly the rules of belgian taxation.
that way, can be granted a “selective advantage” to the 39 multinational , allowing them to pay “substantially less taxes”.
Other companies that the EC will investigate include Basf Antwerpen, Eval Europe, The Heating Company BVBA, British American Tobacco Coordination Center, Omega Pharma International and Pfizer Animal Health . The so-called “tax rulings” are a common practice in almost all member states of the EU.
The controversy lies in the practices covered by an agreement between the Administration and the taxpayer, seeking ultimately a clear tax avoidance.
