Starbucks (Tax Planning) vs The EU
The US coffee chain, Starbucks has been receiving some fairly heavy criticism over the last couple of years after it has emerged that they have paid almost no tax in the UK between 2002 and 2012.
Actually, it’s amazing that a company which has posted such significant losses within the UK is still trading.
Starbucks Tax Planning
Since the vilification which has been all over the media, Starbucks have started to pay some corporation tax in the UK and just as the public might have forgiven Starbucks for their creative tax planning. They’ve hit the headlines again…
The EU has said that an arrangement between Starbucks and The Netherlands could amount to illegal state aid.
Despite, Starbucks deciding to move their European HQ to the Netherlands to the London thr EU may still take action.
The EU have said, “The commission’s preliminary view is that the Advanced Pricing Arrangements in favour of Starbucks Manufacturing EMEA BV constitutes State aid. The Commission has doubts about the compatibility of such aid with the internal market.”
The Dutch government and Starbucks are confident that any investigation will lead to nothing.
Starbucks responded to the EU allegations with, “We agree with the Dutch Government that this investigation by the European Commission announced in June will find that there is no selective advantage and that we comply with all tax laws and OECD guidelines.”
And the cynical among us will remember that the EU has failed it’s annual audit for the last 20 years. So it’s all just a big mess isn’t it?
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