EU launches probe into UK tax scheme for multinationals

Brussels

THE EU on Thursday announced a major probe into a British scheme protecting multinationals from tax avoidance rules, in the latest move in the bloc's campaign to get international companies to pay their share.

Europe's competition chief Margrethe Vestager will investigate whether certain exemptions allowed under British rules amount to a breach of European Union regulations against state aid.

The EU has waged a major crackdown on member states bending rules to give big international firms u…