US and Europe may collide on taxing Apple, Amazon

The European Commission billed Amazon for $293 million in unpaid taxes in Luxembourg last week

Congressional lawmakers are not the only ones interested in collecting taxes on global profits that American corporations are hoarding overseas. European regulators, knee deep in a campaign to stamp out tax avoidance, have their own plans for that money.

Last week, for instance, the European Commission billed Amazon for $293 million in unpaid taxes in Luxembourg, arguing that the country’s failure to collect the tax amounted to an illegal state subsidy. It also took Ireland to court for not following up on the $15.2 billion tax bill imposed on Apple last year.

“The Europeans are targeting US dollars overseas that the US