The establishment of a Task Force on Tax Planning Practices in 2013 appears to have triggered a step change in enforcement of State aid, but it was only with the “Luxleaks” in late 2014 that the issue really came to prominence. Under the energetic direction of Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner in charge of competition policy, the Commission has now challenged legislation or rulings in multiple Member States and has ordered tax authorities to recover many millions (or in one case billions) of euros’ worth of back taxes from taxpayers who are said to have benefited from unlawful State aid. And while cross border activity is not a necessary element of any State aid enquiry, in practice multinationals have been the target.
This article appeared in the 2018 edition of the International Corporate Legal Guide to Corporate Tax; published by Global Legal Group Ltd., London
