Tax breaks for Apple Inc., Starbucks Corp. and Fiat Finance & Trade SA in three European Union countries are under investigation by EU competition regulators in a clampdown on special treatment for companies.
The EU is checking whether the tax deals in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are illegal state aid, according to an e-mailed statement today. Governments can be ordered by the European Commission to claw back unfair aid.
The EU inquiry comes amid a global crackdown on tax avoidance as governments struggle to increase revenue and reduce deficits. Lawmakers in the U.S., the U.K., France and Italy have scrutinized companies such as Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Google Inc., and Amazon.com Inc. The commission has said tax avoidance and evasion in the EU cost about 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) a year.
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