Amazon has defeated the EU in a legal battle over the bloc’s order to pay £215million in back-taxes.
Brussels claimed the online shopping giant did a deal with Luxembourg that broke competition rules and allowed the firm to pay less than was rightly owed.
But European judges overturned the order and said the bloc failed to prove Amazon benefited from preferential treatment.
Legal victory: Amazon, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos (pictured with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez), was accused of breaking competition rules by signing a deal with Luxembourg
It is a setback to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager’s fight to force tech firms to pay more tax, after a defeat over demands Apple pay more in Ireland.
Amazon, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, said the ruling was in line with ‘our longstanding position that we followed all applicable laws and received no special treatment’.
Luxembourg said the judgment showed the deal was not state aid.
Vestager said she would examine the ruling before deciding whether to appeal to Europe’s top court
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