On November 26 and November 30 we already reported that the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE) published written replies it received from 10 multinationals that were present during TAXE’s November 16th meeting. On December 14, 2015 TAXE (I) published the written reply it received from IKEA GROUP.
The written reply TAXE (I) received from IKEA regards a.o. the following questions that were raised by MEP Ms Joly, Greens:
“What is interesting with your company is that you can be used as a classic example to illustrate shifting profits through intellectual property or inter-company loans. For example, IKEA has a highly-developed internal financing network that operates through subsidiaries in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Cyprus and the Netherland Antilles. It appears that this internal financing operation facilitates profit-shifting via payments of interest on inter-company loans. In 2009, PWC obtained a tax ruling from Luxembourg authorities that allowed an IKEA subsidiary in Luxembourg to secure very low tax rates by funnelling internal loans through a new Swiss branch.
- Can you describe the circumstances that led Inter IKEA Finance SA to seek a tax ruling from the Luxembourg authorities in 2009?
- What is the effective tax rate paid by Inter IKEA Finance SA in Luxembourg today?
- What is the nature of the subsidiaries held by Inter IKEA Finance in Switzerland, Cyprus and the Netherlands Antilles? What substantive economic functions do these subsidiaries carry out?
- Do any subsidiaries of the Inter IKEA Group or the IKEA Group have any other tax rulings with Luxembourg or any other jurisdictions?”
Click here to be forwarded to the written reply from IKEA GROUP that TAXE (I) published on its webpage, which will open in a new window.
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