07/11/2016 (Agence Europe) – The German chemicals giant BASF is reported to have avoided nearly €1 billion in tax over five years, according to a report commissioned by the Greens/EFA Group at the European Parliament and published on Monday 7 November. Speaking on behalf of the Greens, Eva Joly of France said that it must not be tolerated that a company like BASF can have 22 subsidiaries in the Netherlands with not a single employee. Patent boxes, hybrid mismatches and Belgian notional interest are some of the tax breaks used by BASF to bring its tax bill down. "The true scandal is that most of the schemes used by BASF are legal, and a consequence of fierce tax competition between EU member states", said Aurore Chardonney of the NGO Oxfam. (EL)