EU Details Tax Case Against Amazon

Amazon’s “cosmetic” tax arrangements in Luxembourg may give the US online retailer an illegal advantage over competitors, European Union regulators said, marking the latest phase of a widening crackdown on alleged sweetheart tax deals for multinationals.

Amazon is one of four companies whose tax affairs are being scrutinized by the European Commission, the EU’s top antitrust authority, amid concerns that they constituted illegal aid from governments. Other targets of the investigation include Apple, Starbucks, and Fiat SpA, all of which face sizable back-tax demands if the regulator’s suspicions are confirmed. In Amazon’s case, the back-tax bill could reach hundreds of millions of euros,