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The margins of businesses like Amazon are largely a matter of fiction, since the subsidiaries can make arbitary charges among themselves: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/04/amazon-fu...

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A better solution would be to implement stricter accounting standards across the EU so that such tax dodges wouldn't be possible. This would solve the actual problem.

So they setup a business outside of the EU's jurisdiction and move the profit their? So all of the business in the EU is done at net no revenue (sales - costs - 'licensing fees' == 0).

What accounting standard means that business is making a profit in the EU?

You could apply a tarrif on the licensing fees? This might upset the WTO.

Loophole free tax law is like bug free code: much harder than it sounds. Especially since the EU countries are actually independent and can have their own tax law.

Actually, it's not that hard. It only becomes hard when you try to use taxes to induce the set of behaviours you want. And then, completely suddenly Goodhart's law kicks in.

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