A report from the Green Party in the European Government has accused furniture giant IKEA of large-scale tax evasion through a complex series of subsidiaries in different European countries, according to CNN Money.
The report, published over the weekend, further alleged that between 2009 and 2014, the furniture giant has dodged about $1.1 billion worth of taxes, and it has not stopped the practice since.
In 2014 alone, the report alleges that the company dodged $39 million worth of taxes in Germany, $26 million in France, and just more than $12 million in the U.K., reports the NL Times.
The figures published in the report, however, were merely estimates, as there is a notable lack of public information about the furniture giant. Nevertheless, IKEA has expressly denied the allegations.
"The IKEA Group is fully committed to managing its operations in a responsible and sustainable way and we pay our taxes in full compliance with national and international tax rules and regulations," the company said in a statement, according to ABC 6 News.
Profit shifting, which involves establishing a company's headquarters in low-tax countries, has become a common strategy for huge corporations to create maximum profits with very little tax. Though essentially legal, the European Union has nonetheless taken it upon itself to crack down on companies utilizing such a business strategy.
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