“Improper and plainly undermines legal certainty and the rule of law.” This is how four U.S. senators – including the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee – recently described the European Commission’s State aid investigation into tax rulings by Member States, including into Ireland’s tax treatment of Apple.
Of course the U.S. Senators’ concern, plainly stated in their 23 May letter (to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Jacob Lew), is “to protect U.S. interests in these matters.” The U.S. view is that “four of the five investigations of company-specific tax rulings, and nearly all of the amounts at stake, involve U.S. companies” and that the European Commission is “disproportionately targeting U.S. companies.”
But in addition to anti-U.S. bias, the Senators claim the EU investigation involves “applying new theories of State aid retrospectively in a manner that is inconsistent with international tax standards.” Is there basis to this claim?
Read the full article here: Uncle Sam Is Right: The EU Probe Into Ireland’s Tax Treatment of Apple Is Overreach