Tax implications of the Subsidy Control Bill

The context of the Bill: state aid law WTO rules and the TCA to tax measures

The fact that subsidy control regimes have major implications for tax has become increasingly obvious over the last decade as the European Commission has used its powers under EU state aid law to override a number of member state’s taxation decisions. Examples include the setting aside of allegedly over-generous tax rulings in favour of large multinationals on the treatment of intra-group transactions (Apple Amazon Starbucks) and the striking down of elements of the UK’s controlled foreign companies regime. Though some of those decisions have not been sustained before the EU courts others have been upheld: and the general point that EU state aid law applies not just in theory but also in real...