US in unprecedented assault on EU tax probes

The US government has launched an unprecedented assault on the EU, saying that tax probes by Brussels involving the affairs of American companies threaten to undermine the global tax system.

It comes as the clock ticks down to decision day in the Apple tax case, the most contentious of several investigations undertaken by EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, which effectively alleges Ireland struck a too-sweet deal over the tech giant’s tax affairs.

In a white paper published yesterday, the US Treasury bluntly accuses Brussels of overstepping its powers and putting at risk existing global agreements that aim to crack down on underpayments of corporate tax.