The European Commission decided to investigate companies registered in Ireland, which can be used as a way to tax heavens. It all started with Apple who was accused of non-paying taxes, but now the Commission may investigate more than just this software giant as part of a probe into the Ireland’s tax practices. The European Union will be investigating whether Ireland, along with its other member states like Luxembourg and the Netherlands, has attracted investment and jobs by helping tech giants avoid tax in other countries, including Europe.

European Union seems to be too worried that by using Ireland as tax havens Apple and Google have been avoiding paying their tax bills at the expense of other EU members. Indeed, the country is seen as being far too lenient in rulings it provided to Apple and which helped the company save tens of billions of dollars in profit from tax. The investigators have asked Ireland for information on the rulings it gave Apple.

European Commission officials claimed they think other companies had also benefited from such treatment of a tax heaven and want the country to change its approach so the tech giants were not able to shift so much profit through Ireland into tax havens.

In the meantime, Apple denied receiving special treatment from Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – all of those countries said any tax rulings they give the corporations correspond with international practices. However, pushed by France and Germany, Brussels is keen to clamp down on what is regarded as unfair tax competition across the bloc.

EU tax commissioner pointed out that tax incentives offered by EU member states should never be used to lure profits away from where they should rightfully be taxed. During the meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg, he demanded that the principles of fair play must be verified and be not undermined.

In case European Commission manages to prove that Ireland agreed tax treatments with the tech giants that diverge from international rules, it could deem any corporate tax savings to be a form of subsidy which must be either halted or repaid. It is unclear who else will participate in the investigation and what plan of actions it will include.