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EU: Lawmakers grill multinationals on tax structures

By  |  March 16, 2016

European lawmakers on Tuesday grilled multinationals, including AlphabetInc.’s Google, Apple Inc. and McDonald’s Corp., on their tax structures in Europe, raising political pressure on the firms as governments across the bloc attempt to wring out more corporate tax revenue.

In a sometimes tense session, legislators accused the companies of using complex structures to funnel tens of billions of dollars of profit out of Europe without paying what lawmakers argued was a fair amount of tax.

“Does this activity embarrass Alphabet or you? Do you feel embarrassed?” Paul Tang, a Dutch member of the Socialists and Democrats alliance, asked a Google executive.

Company representatives shot back that their structures followed current laws and it was up to legislators to change them. “We make use of tax incentives, tax structures that are well known, that are widely accessible and used by most multinationals,” said Adam Cohen, head of economic policy for Google in Europe.

Full Content: The Wall Street Journal

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