Tax evasion has remained in the top of the “heatedly-debated-issues” charts for several years and is not expected to “drop down” soon. Instead, the intensity in the fight against it seems to be increasing on every occasion (Lux Leaks, Panama Papers etc.). In this “war”, European Commission’s (EU) decisions on fiscal state aid are beyond doubt the most controversial “weapon”.
In essence, such decisions invalidate tax rulings issued by Member States since they allow multinationals (MNEs) to pay less tax than standalone companies in comparable situations under Member States’ tax laws in violation of state aid rules.