The European Commission has called on Luxembourg to submit information that the Commission needs in order to assess whether certain tax practices favour certain companies, in breach of EU state aid rules.

According to the Commission, Luxembourg failed to adequately answer previous requests for information, and so the Commission has now adopted two information injunctions ordering Luxembourg to deliver the requested information within one month. Should Luxembourg persist in its refusal, the Commission may refer the issue to the EU Court of Justice.

The Commission is currently gathering information on both tax ruling practices (i.e. decisions for individual companies on specific tax matters) as well as intellectual property (IP) tax regimes in Member States, to assess their compliance with EU state aid rules. For this purpose, it sent information requests to several Member States, including Luxembourg. According to the Commission, Luxembourg provided general information but failed to provide a specific overview of rulings it took in 2011 and 2012 and also failed to deliver certain information on the usage of the IP tax regime, including the details of the 100 largest companies falling under the regime.

The Commission is entitled to request any information it deems necessary for a state aid investigation, and Member States are under a duty to respond. Confidential fiscal information remains adequately protected, as the Commission is itself bound by rules of confidentiality.

For further details see the European Commission’s website.