The European Union’s top antitrust official vowed to push ahead with tax probes involving some of the world’s biggest companies, saying businesses that are "organized to pay very little taxes" are a competition concern.
Margrethe Vestager, who is investigating tax deals Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., struck in Ireland and Luxembourg respectively, said her investigations should send "a signal that you should invest in Europe for the right reasons" such as access to the EU’s market of more than 500 million consumers or its research environment.
"Very few businesses actually need" special tax treatment, she said Sunday in an interview on Bloomberg Television in Munich, Germany.
Most "can compete on the merits with the business next door" which pays its fair share of tax.