Amazon’s rapid rise put online giant on EU’s tax hit list

Bloomberg

Amazon.com Inc. is in the European Union’s cross hairs because its rapid expansion may have been fueled by tax measures that slashed its costs, according to the EU official spearheading a state-aid probe into the online giant.
Gert-Jan Koopman, whose department at the European Commission was responsible for slapping Apple Inc. with a $15.6 billion tax repayment order last year, told a Brussels conference that the EU is targeting methods that are a menace to fair competition.
“We are concerned that a company that is essentially in the position to lower its tax base, and as a business model is penetrating markets and scaling up, can do so more rapidly than some of its competitors,” Koopman said when asked about the EU’s investigation into Amazon. He pointed to an “internal form of financing which allowed it to expand very significantly.”
Amazon and burger chain McDonald’s Corp. are tipped to be the next in line as the EU clamps down on tax deals it deems to be unfair. Both are under investigation for their fiscal arrangements with Luxembourg, which has gained a reputation for doling out special deals to big firms in the Grand-Duchy.
At stake in the EU’s probes are billions of euros that multinational companies have squirreled away in tax havens, out of the reach of authorities in the countries where they make most of their sales. Faced with some 300 companies to look at, the EU can prioritise cases that may harm competition more widely, said Koopman. “On terms of picking up our cases and assessing our priorities these things are very important” since regulators have limited resources and want to focus on tax deals that gave a “selective advantage” to one company over rivals, he said.
Both Luxembourg and Ireland have buckled under the pressure, moving to change tax arrangements that attracted criticism. Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg’s finance minister, met EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager earlier, months after the country tightened its tax rules
for corporations.

Wal-Mart needs a new HQ, too
Bloomberg

As Amazon.com Inc. grabs headlines with its nationwide search for HQ2, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is quietly moving a couple blocks down. Citing its current “patchwork” of corporate offices that sprouted up across northwest Arkansas “without a holistic long-term plan,” Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon announced plans for a new corporate campus on J Street in the company’s hometown of Bentonville. The headquarters, which will be built over five to seven years, will bring most of the area’s Wal-Mart employees to one work site.
Wal-Mart sees the new development helping attract talent with improved parking, meal services, fitness and access to the local trail network. Facilities now are expensive to maintain and inefficient and “literally encourage us to work in silos” while incurring wasted travel time, McMillon said.