The European Commission ruled on Monday that a corporate tax break that Belgium has granted to at least 35 companies, amounting to total reductions equivalent to about $765 million, was illegal.<br />The commission, the executive arm of the European Union, did not immediately identify the companies that benefited from the tax break.<br />The commission said the Belgian government would be required to recover the unpaid taxes from the companies.<br />The ruling, part of a series of investigations led by the European Union’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, found that Belgium had given unfair tax advantages to certain companies — ones that were not available to other companies doing business in Belgium.
