Virus Tax Relief Takes Precedence Over State Aid Rules: EU (1)

The EU will allow member countries to temporarily suspend taxes on businesses, including corporate tax, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the bloc’s competition chief said Friday.

“They can give all businesses, throughout the economy, a breathing space to help them cope—providing wage subsidies, or suspending corporate tax payments or payments of VAT,” Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president, said in a statement.

Under normal circumstances, such measures would be considered illegal state aid, forbidden by EU rules. But the disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak has prompted the European Commission to take a lenient view.

Countries across the European ...