Unions, charity accuse McDonald's of avoiding $1.1 billion in tax

Labor unions and a charity accused fast food chain McDonald's (MCD.N) of avoiding around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in tax between 2009 and 2013 by routing revenues through a Luxembourg unit and called on the European Commission to investigate. Corporate tax avoidance has become a hot political issue in Europe and the EU executive has opened investigations into tax deals that some countries have cut with multinationals, including deals between Luxembourg and carmaker Fiat (FCHA.MI) and online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN.O) . Umbrella organizations for unions representing millions of workers in the United States and Europe and charity War on Want, called on the Commission to expand that investigation to include McDonald's. The European Federation of Public Service Unions and The Service Employees International Union said McDonald's saved on tax by having restaurants make tax-deductible royalty payments equivalent to five percent of turnover to a lightly taxed subsidiary in Luxembourg.

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