Amazon.com won a tax dispute on Thursday with the United States’ Internal Revenue Service worth more than $1.5 billion (more than Rs 9,400 crore) over transactions made more than a decade ago, Reuters reported. The case was related to dealings the online retailer had with its European subsidiary in Luxembourg in 2005.
The United States Tax Court ruled that the IRS had made arbitrary arguments and abused its discretionary powers. The IRS had contended that Amazon had undervalued its assets transferred to the European unit and thus brought down the tax bill in the US. The IRS had claimed that Amazon owed more than $200 million in tax payments on its 2005 and 2006 bills related to the Luxembourg subsidiary, The News Tribune reported. The e-commerce giant said the tax agency had overestimated the value of “intangible assets”.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is investigating whether the tax agreement that Amazon struck with Luxembourg gives the company unfair advantages. After its operations in the United Kingdom, France and Germany, the company decided to create a subsidiary in Luxembourg because it offered a much lower tax rate than the US.
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