Amazon was declared the winner in a tax legal battle where the EU ordered it to pay Luxembourg the amount of €250 million or around $303 million in back taxes. The win for the American retail giant is said to be a big blow to European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager's campaign against preferential deals.
Why Amazon was favored in the court
As per Reuters, the hitch, which is Amazon’s win in the tax case, triggered renewed calls from EU lawmakers for a global corporate tax deal. Despite losing, analysts said that Vestager is not likely to give up on her crusade regarding the amount of tax that big companies should pay.
In any case, based on the EU’s court ruling, Amazon won in the legal dispute after the group of legislators was not able to show that Luxembourg gave Jeff Bezos’ company a special treatment that violates state aid rules.
"The Commission did not prove to the requisite legal standard that there was an undue reduction of the tax burden of a European subsidiary of the Amazon group," the EU judges stated in the ruling.
This legal dispute stemmed from the order that Amazon received in 2017. The European Commission ordered the American e-commerce and tech firm to pay €250 million to Luxembourg for back taxes.
Second loss for EU tax crusaders
It was mentioned that this is the second defeat for Vestager as it also lost in the court tussle against Apple last year. At that time, the American tech company contested an EU order for it to pay €13 billion or $15 billion in Irish back taxes.
Similar to Amazon’s case, the EU’s court ruled that the commission failed to prove that the Irish government had granted a tax advantage to Apple. The European Commission has since filed an appeal against the ruling in the iPhone maker tax dispute.
Apple and Amazon were said to be targeted by Vestager in the EU's campaign to put an end to tax agreement practices being used by EU states to attract major companies. The group said that such types of deals are not fair.
Meanwhile, Amazon said in a statement that it welcomed the judges’ decision. The company added that it has always been Amazon’s stance to follow all applicable laws and reiterated that it has not received any preferential or special treatment in its dealings.


Bank of America to Buy Up to 49.9% Stake in Jio Credit for $1.92 Billion
Paramount Weighs CNN Sale as $110B Warner Bros. Discovery Deal Faces Antitrust Fight
Asian Currencies Steady Ahead of US CPI as Oil Prices Rise
England Drought Expands to 71% as Heatwave Deepens Water Crisis
Yen Stabilizes After Intervention Slide as Australian Dollar Hits Eight-Week High
US Judge Dismisses Gautam Adani Criminal Charges
European Stocks Flat as Oil Prices Rise, US CPI in Focus
South Korean Won Leads Asian FX Losses as Dollar Rises
Trump Media Says Truth API Draws 10+ Customers as Conflict Concerns Grow
Singapore Raises 2026 GDP Growth Forecast to 4.5%-5.5% as AI Boom Fuels Economy
Oil, Gold Rise as Geopolitical Risks Grip Markets Ahead of U.S. CPI
Sony, TSMC Eye $6.3 Billion Japan Chip Venture for Next-Gen Image Sensors
JPMorgan Plans More Asia-Pacific Hiring in 2027 as Corporate Banking Revenue Surges
S&P 500, Nasdaq Slip as Oil Jumps on Iran Tensions
Treasury Wine Estates Shares Jump as U.S. Overhaul Lifts FY2026 Outlook
Nvidia Seen Beating Q2 Targets as Vera Rubin Cycle Begins
Gold Price Hits Two-Month High as Investors Await US Inflation Data 



