Competition between firms or member states ? I. Introduction 1. The note discusses the recent application of State aid control rules to tax rulings from an economic perspective, with particular reference to the Apple case. [2] 2. First, we question the presumption that tax rulings which reduce the profit tax rate on a company involve a distortion of competition. We observe that such tax rulings do not affect pricing decisions in the short term and might distort investment decisions only in particular circumstances. Hence, there is clearly no presumption that such tax rulings distort competition in the market place. 3. Second, we argue that tax ruling cases might be better framed in terms of the underlying objective of the State aid provisions of the Treaty, namely to complete the
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CONFERENCES: STATE AID - TAX COMPETITION - INTERNAL MARKET
State aid control and tax rulings. Is there really a competition issue? (New Frontiers of Antitrust - Paris, 26 June 2017)
This article [1] argues that there is no presumption that tax rulings distort competition between firms. Rather, tax rulings should be considered, in the same way as subsidy races, as detrimental to the achievement in the internal market. Finally, we argue that the in the presence of complex corporate constructions with large tax benefits, the burden of proofing the existence of an advantage should be reversed.
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