the EU is supposed to have a single market. but any company that wants to do business in all 25 member countries must contend with 25 different tax codes. this discourages some companies from operating on an EU-wide scale. at the same time, big multinationals often take advantage of the EU's different rules to dodge the taxman.

made: 2005-11-09

link: economist.com

keywords: ecfoc tax taxing system EU European Union multinationals profit company rules borders goose geese member countries gold egg fatten grow