It has emerged that the Commission has extended the scope of its enquiries into tax rulings under EU State Aid rules to all 28 member states of the EU.

In a press release issued by the Commission it appears that Member States will be asked to confirm whether they issue tax rulings and if so, to provide the Commission with a list of companies which they have issued tax rulings to from 2010 to 2013. The Commission has extended its enquiries into tax rulings under the auspices of increased tax transparency and fair tax competition and are of the view that a number of Member States seem to allow multinational companies to “take advantage of their tax systems” and as a consequence reduce their tax burden.

As reported in tax.point, readers will be familiar with the transfer pricing investigation opened against Ireland in June of this year with respect to Apple, as well as investigations issued against Luxembourg and the Netherlands under the potential breach of State Aid rules.