McDonald’s Corporation Could Soon Face An EU Tax Bill As High As 1 Billion Euros

Written by StockNews.com

European regulators are close to handing down a massive tax judgement against McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD), alleging the company unfairly dodged taxes - some 1 billion euros between 2009 and 2013 according to some trade unions and consumer groups in Europe - via its subsidiary in Luxembourg.

Bloomberg broke the news, citing people close to the situation:

The European Commission may be moving ahead with a decision in the McDonald’s case before the EU’s summer break in August, according to the people, who asked not to be named because details of state-aid investigations are confidential. That means the ruling could arrive before another pending decision on Amazon.com Inc.’s tax deals with Luxembourg, the people said.

Back in December, McDonald’s responded to the initial tax inquiries by moving its non-U.S. operations from Luxembourg — long seen as a sort of tax haven for foreign entities — to the United Kingdom.

Along with the EU itself, McDonald’s faces additional tax dodging allegations from trade unions and consumer groups in Europe. Those groups say that MCD skirted some 1 billion euros in taxes between 2009 and 2013.

Europe has been cracking down on what it feels are unfair, and in some cases, illegal, methods by U.S. based companies to avoid foreign taxation. Apple (AAPL) was handed a record $13.9 billion tax bill by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager last year.

...Year-to-date, MCD has gained 7.27%, versus a 5.46% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

MCD currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #1 of 53 stocks in the Restaurants category.