“The United States has sent a message to the European Union: Stop your tax crackdown on American companies or be prepared to suffer the consequences,” Jethro Mullen reports for CNN. “Apple has already warned the investigation could force it to pay a decade’s worth of back taxes to Ireland — estimated by some analysts to be in the billions of dollars.”

“The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday accused the European Commission agency behind the probes of going beyond its remit and acting as ‘a supra-national tax authority,'” Mullen reports. “‘These investigations have major implications for the United States,’ said Robert Stack, the Treasury’s deputy assistant secretary for international tax affairs. He warned U.S. taxpayers ‘could wind up eventually footing the bill.’ That could happen, he said, if the companies are forced to pay extra tax to the EU and then claim that spending as a deduction on their U.S. taxes.”

“The Treasury published a white paper detailing its objections, including the fear that other countries could follow the EU example and seek large sums retroactively from both U.S. and EU companies,” Mullen reports. “It urged the EU to give up on its pursuit of the companies, saying it’s considering unspecified ‘”potential responses’ if Brussels doesn’t change course.”

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