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John Christensen ■ European Commission to probe McDonald’s tax deal with Luxembourg

European Commission to probe McDonald’s tax deal with Luxembourg

John Christensen

Published:

3 December 2015

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The European Commission has just announced a formal investigation of the tax agreement struck between McDonald’s and Luxembourg. Read the full press release here, also read the Unhappy Meals report on McDonald’s tax avoidance schemes. There are many reasons to boycott McDonalds; add tax avoidance to the list.

European Commission – Press release

State aid: Commission opens formal investigation into Luxembourg’s tax treatment of McDonald’s

Brussels, 3 December 2015

The Commission has opened a formal probe into Luxembourg’s tax treatment of McDonald’s.Its preliminary view is that a tax ruling granted by Luxembourg may have granted McDonald’s an advantageous tax treatment in breach of EU State aid rules

In particular, the Commission will assess whether Luxembourg authorities selectively derogated from the provisions of their national tax law and the Luxembourg-US Double Taxation Treaty and thereby gave McDonald’s an advantage not available to other companies in a comparable factual and legal situation.

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, stated: “A tax ruling that agrees to McDonald’s paying no tax on their European royalties either in Luxembourg or in the US has to be looked at very carefully under EU state aid rules. The purpose of Double Taxation treaties between countries is to avoid double taxation – not to justify double non-taxation.”

The author

John Christensen

Trained as a forensic auditor and economist, John has worked in many countries around the world, including a period of working in offshore financial services with Touche Ross & Co. For 11 years he was economic adviser to the government of the British Channel Island of Jersey. In 2003 he became what the Guardian has described as “the unlikely figurehead of a worldwide campaign against tax avoidance.” His research on offshore finance has been widely published in books and academic journals, and John has taken part in many films, television documentaries and radio programmes. John can be contacted on +44 (0) 7979 868302.

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