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When asked about a report that the world's top furniture company Ikea may have underpaid taxes by one billion euros using aggressive tax strategies, Pierre Moscovici said "a company should pay taxes where they generate profits".
The EU's economy commissioner told journalists during a visit to the southern French city of Toulouse that "we've had enough of multinational firms benefitting from this or that favourable rule ... to avoid paying tax where they did business to pay little in taxes in countries where the rates are low."
He declined to name any company.
But the Green/EFA group in the European Parliament said at the weekend it had commissioned research that shows Ikea "structured itself to dodge 1 billion euros in taxes over the last six years using onshore European tax havens".
Responding to the report the European Commission said on Saturday it would examine the claims, while Ikea defended its management of its tax affairs.