natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Rapporten konkluderer, at det for at opnå succes på de konkurrencedygtige europæiske detailmarkeder er nødvendigt at tage hensyn til de særlige lokale forhold på disse markeder.
The contested tax ruling was also relied upon by LuxSCS and its US-based partners in that it confirms that neither LuxSCS nor its partners are subject to Luxembourg corporate income tax, municipal business tax or, for the latter, tax on their partnership interest in LuxSCS.
OPLYSNINGER PÅ AMAZONS FORRETNINGSMODEL
Table 2 illustrates the implications of the contested tax ruling for the calculation of LuxOpCo's taxable base in Luxembourg and the level of the royalty payment (the License Fee) to LuxSCS since 2006.
De »tre søjler« i Amazons detailforretningsmodel
The Commission recalls that LuxOpCo operates as the parent entity in the fiscal unity formed with ASE and AMEU, and that those companies are accordingly treated as one single tax payer for Luxembourg tax purposes.
Ifølge Amazon er de vigtigste drivkræfter i dets detailvirksomhed sortiment (produkt/tilbud og priser ), pris og bekvemmelighed (brugervenlig funktionalitet, hurtig og pålidelig opfyldelse, rettidig kundeservice, funktionsrigdom og pålideligt indhold samt et sikkert transaktionsmiljø), hvor udvælgelse kommer først, derefter pris og siden bekvemmelighed .
Accordingly, Table 2 is drawn up on a consolidated basis, and no distinction is made between LuxOpCo, ASE and AMEU in the following parts of this Decision.
Disse vigtige drivkræfter er traditionelle mål for detailhandel, og Amazon henviser til dem som »de tre søjler«.
Table 2
Ifølge Amazon er udførelsen af de tre søjler kritisk og kræver unikhed og innovation i bl.a. produktudbud, teknologi, forretningslinje og geografi, hvilket hovedsagelig afhænger af menneskelig aktivitet.
Calculation of LuxOpCo's taxable base and royalty payments 2006-2013
De tre søjler skal tilpasses hvert enkelt marked, hvor Amazon opererer.
Luxembourgish fiscal unity group
Sortiment: Ifølge Amazon er varesortimentet en af de vigtigste drivkræfter i dets succes.
Total revenue
Amazons medarbejdere definerer det som at tilbyde kunderne alt, hvad de kunne tænke sig at købe.
[15000 – 15500]
Dette kræver, at man forstår kundernes smag og foretrukne køb på et givet marked, rekrutterer relevante leverandører og sikrer, at produkterne er på lager.
Net COGS
Ifølge Amazon er der en nær tilknytning mellem sortiment og indtægter.
[11500 – 12000]
Amazon stræber efter at have det bredest mulige sortiment og konstant øge antallet af tilbudte produkter .
Total operating expense
Da præferencer er lokale og kategori- og leverandørpræferencer varierer med geografien, er varesortimentet også lokalt, fordi smag og kulturer er lokalt forskellige.
Thereof
Dette kan ses ved at sammenligne Amazons bedste sælgende varer, som er forskellige fra land til land.
Expenses applicable to mark-up
Målet og hovedansvaret på landsniveau er at opbygge en forretning, der primært er fokuseret på fysisk detailhandel og at skabe et sortiment, der er relevant for kunden .
[2500 – 3000]
Et sådant sortiment opbygges gennem personlig forhandling (mennesker med mennesker).
LuxOpCo - OpEx
Amazon skaber sit varesortiment på tre måder: i) gennem opkøb af virksomheder, ii) ved at indgå partnerskaber med leverandører og iii) tredjepartsprogrammer som f.eks. Marketplace.
[800 – 900]
For eksempel startede Amazon sit salg af værktøj i USA ved at opkøbe et eksisterende firma, der allerede solgte værktøjer, for at få adgang til de eksisterende leverandørforhold og det sortiment, Amazon ønskede at udvide sin detailvirksomhed med.
LuxOpCo - Intercompany
Partnerskaber med leverandører kræver specifikt kendskab til markedet og opbygning af tillid hos leverandører.
[1500 – 2000]
Når et partnerskab er etableret med en leverandør, skal lokale salgsmedarbejdere pleje dette forhold, overholde leverandørernes betingelser og have kendskab til det lokale marked.
Expenses excluded from mark-up (Mngt and RSU)
Amazons Marketplace tilbyder andre detailhandlere brug af Amazons platform til deres e-handelsvirksomhed, også selv om de er direkte konkurrenter til Amazon.
[200 – 300]
Amazon oprettede den tekniske kontoadministration (»TAM«), der er kontaktpunktet for Marketplace-sælgere med tekniske spørgsmål efter deres lancering på Amazon-webstederne.
Resulting operating profit
Amazon udviklede også sin teknologi for at tillade potentielle sælgere selv at tilmelde sig til Marketplace, og fra 2010/2012 er tilmelding gennem selvbetjening blevet vigtigere for Amazons Marketplace-aktiviteter.
[600 – 700]
Pris: Ifølge Amazon er prisen den næstvigtigste drivkraft i dets forretning.
Estimated Total Return to Lux Fiscal Unity Group at [4-6] % of adjusted OpEx
Amazon bestræber sig på at holde priserne så lave som muligt.
[100 – 200]
Mens Amazon indtil 2009 hovedsageligt anvendte manuel prissætning, så er priserne siden blevet fastsat ved hjælp af en prisalgoritme.
Ceiling/floor analysis
Bekvemmelighed: Ifølge Amazon er bekvemmelighed den tredje drivkraft i dets forretning.
Profit ceiling (0,55 % of revenue)
Bekvemmelighed består af flere mål, der har til formål at lette og forbedre kundeoplevelsen, såsom i) at hjælpe kunder med at finde det, de søger efter, samtidig med at sikre komplette produktoplysninger til kunden, og ii) levere de indkøbte produkter så hurtigt og præcist som muligt.
[80 – 90]
Onlinemarketingsindsatsen
Profit floor (0,45 % of revenue)
Ud over valg, pris og bekvemmelighed er Amazons online marketingindsats en vigtig drivkraft for at lede trafik til Amazons websteder og øge detailsalget.
[60 – 70]
Før 2003 samarbejdede Amazon med internationale reklamebureauer som støtte for markedsføringsindsatsen.
Luxembourg consolidated Profit - per Ceiling/Floor and Return
Dette ændrede sig i 2003, da Amazon begyndte at drive sin egen online marketingindsats.
Royalty payment (Lux fiscal unity group to LuxSCS)
Da først teknologien til Associates-programmet var blevet udviklet, måtte den integreres i hvert land med lokale associerede websteder.
[500 – 600]
Implementeringen af Associates-programmet kunne derfor kun udføres lokalt.
According to the calculation of the License Fee to LuxSCS, the cost base used to determine LuxOpCo's taxable basis for Luxembourg tax purposes are its operating expenses and the costs incurred by the EU Local Affiliates which are subsequently reimbursed by LuxOpCo (specified in Table 2 as ‘LuxOpCo — Intercompany’).
Derfor blev gruppen bag Amazons Associates-program delt i et »softwareteam« og et »rekrutteringsteam« (dvs. et forretningsudviklingsteam).
The costs of goods sold and certain other costs, referred to as ‘expenses excluded from the mark-up (Mngt and RSU)’ in Table 2, are excluded from the calculation of LuxOpCo's taxable profit.
Mens softwareteamet var fuldstændig baseret i Seattle, blev rekrutteringsteamene etableret lokalt i lande, hvor Amazon drev et websted, som Tyskland, Det Forenede Kongerige og Japan.
The latter category of expenses comprises the following costs: (i) as from 2008, charges by US affiliates of Amazon.com, Inc. for support services, which were not foreseen at the time of the contested tax ruling; (ii) beginning in 2010, Amazon.com, Inc. charged LuxOpCo for the shares awarded as stock compensation to employees of LuxOpCo and certain of its direct and indirect European subsidiaries.
Udvælgelsen af de mest relevante lokale partnerwebsteder (websteder, der annoncerer Amazon-produkter) til Associates-programmet, som efterfølgende vil øge trafikken til Amazons websteder, kræver kendskab til det lokale marked.
Amazon claims that those charges did not change the functions and risks of LuxOpCo.
Derfor skabes netværket af associerede websteder af lokale Amazon-teams.
The application of the [4-6] % mark-up on the sum of LuxOpCo's operating expenses and intercompany expenses produces the Estimated Total Return To Lux Fiscal Unity Group.
Dette omfatter rekruttering af de lokale websteder (herunder websteder i EU), fastsættelse af associeringsgebyr og kontrol af tilfælde af svig.
This result is then tested against the ceiling and the floor criteria (0,55 % and 0,45 % of revenues respectively).
Denne proces starter med store spillere som Google og fortsætter ned til websteder med specielle interesser og få besøgende.
In cases where the Estimated Total Return was higher than 0,55 % of the revenues (as in years 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2013), the application of the ceiling was determinant for assessing LuxOpCo's taxable income in Luxembourg, referred to in Table 2 as the ‘Luxembourg consolidated Profit – per Ceiling/Floor and Return’.
Alle aftaler forhandles lokalt, fordi lokale forhold skal inddrages til søgemaskineoptimering, selv med globale websteder som Google.
Finally, the Luxembourg consolidated Profit (referred to as the LuxOpCo return in the ruling request) is subtracted from the operating profit (referred to as the ‘EU Operating profit’ in the ruling request) to determine the License Fee due to LuxSCS.
Teknologi
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN THE COURSE OF THE FORMAL INVESTIGATION
Amazon beskriver sig som et teknologibureau, »med en tilgang til detailhandel som var det et teknisk problem«.
During the course of the investigation, Amazon provided information on the European online retail market, on its business model in general and on its European operations in particular, on the IP licensing agreements it concluded with unrelated entities, and on its new corporate and tax structure in Luxembourg with effect from June 2014.
Teknologi er således en vigtig del af Amazons forretning.
That information complements the information already presented in Sections 2.1 and 2.2.
Teknologi giver Amazon mulighed for at levere konkurrencedygtige priser, målrette forslag til varer til bestemte kunder, behandle betalinger, administrere lagerbeholdninger og sende varerne til kunderne.
INFORMATION ON THE EUROPEAN ONLINE RETAIL MARKET
Teknologi er også nødvendig for at understøtte forretningernes størrelse, da Amazons forretningsstrategi er baseret på konstant ekspansion.
The European online retail market was the subject of a report commissioned by Amazon from [Advisor 3], a consultancy company, which contains an analysis of the economic trends of the e-commerce sector in Europe (‘the [Advisor 3] Report’).
Amazon stræber efter at være pålidelig, tilgængelig, hurtig og fleksibel i sine transaktioner.
The [Advisor 3] Report describes ‘online retail’ as the online sales of physical goods by online retailers, i.e. operators purchasing goods, holding them in their inventory and selling them online.
Amazon er afhængig af både software- og hardwareteknologi.
According to that report, the activities of online retailers are more similar to the activities of physical retailers, than to that of digital service providers.
Dets softwareinfrastruktur er baseret på en såkaldt »serviceorienteret arkitektur«, som i det væsentlige er en samling funktioner (»services«) i softwaren, der er i stand til at kommunikere med hinanden.
The main difference between physical retailers and online retailers lies in the product distribution channel used.
De enkelte tjenester i Amazons serviceorienterede arkitektur samarbejder om at levere forskellige former for detailfunktionalitet, både i interne processer og til kunderne.
The study also indicates that online retailers are structurally less profitable than digital service providers, since online retailers have an essentially variable costs basis.
Dette gør bl.a. vedligeholdelse af de enkelte softwarekomponenter nemmere og sikrer en højere grad af innovation.
The costs structure of digital service providers is more fixed than that of retailers, which allows for economies of scale and higher margins once a company has reached a critical size .
Hovedelementerne i Amazons softwareteknologi er beskrevet nedenfor:
For retailers, be it physical or online, the impact of economies of scale on the profitability is limited, since the vast majority of costs are variable.
Softwareplatform: Softwarekode udviklet af Amazon til at drive sine hjemmesider består af komplekse softwareværktøjer, der kører de forskellige funktioner på webstederne, f.eks. søgning og navigation, ordrebehandling og personalisering.
Changes in the cost of goods sold, discounts and logistics costs, which are a major share of the total costs, are strongly linked to business volumes.
Softwareværktøjerne udgør ved platformens rod et integreret system, som hele tiden forbedres, styrkes og ændres.
This factor, together with the intense competition characteristic to the online retail sector, resulted in negative average EBIT margins on the European online retail market.
Hovedfunktionerne omfatter hastighed, funktionernes omfang og fleksibilitet i svar på brugernes behov.
In the period 2006-2013, the relation of the average EBIT margin to sales was – 0,5 %.
Websidens layout: Designet skaber en unik »præsentation« af webstedet.
The [Advisor 3] report's analysis of the market dynamics in the five most populated countries in Europe shows that ‘the online retail segment experienced a strong growth and was subject to intense competition between 2006 and 2013’.
Katalogprogrammet: Kataloget består af alle oplysninger om de produkter, som Amazon sælger på sine websteder.
In particular, ‘[t]he intensity of competition required online retailers to invest heavily to sustain the market segment growth and keep up with the competition, thus putting margins under pressure when not pushing them into negative territory.
Udviklerne af webstedets navigation bruger disse værktøjer til at organisere dataene, så de maksimerer sandsynligheden for, at kunderne finder det, de søger.
INFORMATION ON AMAZON'S BUSINESS MODEL
Logistiksoftware: Logistikprocessen benytter software udviklet af Amazon til at styre inventar, forsyningskæde, logistik og genopbygning af lageret.
The ‘three pillars’ of Amazon's retail business model
Ordrebehandlingssoftware: Ordrebehandlingsprocessen benytter software udviklet af Amazon til at udføre visse funktioner, især kommunikation med Amazons ordrebehandlingscentre for at bekræfte produkttilgængelighed, validere forsendelse, estimere leveringsdatoen og kommunikere bestilling af gaveemballering og andre kundepræferencer.
According to Amazon, the key drivers of its retail business are selection (product/merchandise offerings ), price, and convenience (easy-to-use functionality, fast and reliable fulfilment, timely customer service, feature-rich and authoritative content, as well as a secure transaction environment), whereby selection comes first, then price, and then convenience .
Kundeservicesoftware: Kundeservicemedarbejderne bruger software udviklet af Amazon til at overvåge kundeordrer og reagere hurtigt og effektivt på den store forskellighed.
These key drivers are referred to by Amazon as the ‘three pillars’, and are traditional retail objectives.
Personaliseringssoftware: Amazon har udviklet og udvikler fortsat softwareværktøjer, der gør det muligt for Amazon-databaserne at lagre, organisere og hente en stor mængde data om de enkelte kunders præferencer og købshistorik.
According to Amazon, executing the three pillars is critical and requires uniqueness and innovation in product offering, technology, business line, geography etc., depending mainly on human intervention.
Denne funktion giver en bedre brugeroplevelse, hvorfor de er mere tilbøjelige til at generere gentagne køb.
The three pillars must be adapted to each local market where Amazon operates.
YDERLIGERE OPLYSNINGER OM LUXOPCO
Selection: According to Amazon, selection is one of the key drivers of its success.
LuxOpCos organisationsstruktur
Amazon employees define it as offering customers everything they may want to buy, which requires identification of customers' tastes and buying preferences in a given market, recruiting relevant suppliers and ensuring that the products are in stock.
I sine breve af 18. december 2015 og 15. januar 2016 fremlagde Amazon en oversigt over LuxOpCos organisationsstruktur, som den så ud ved slutningen af 2013, og beskrev selskabets afdelinger.
According to Amazon, there is a tightly linked correlation between selection and revenue.
LuxOpCos organisationsstruktur er illustreret i organigrammet i figur 3.
Amazon strives to have the widest selection possible and to continuously grow the number of products offered .
Antallet af medarbejdere (fuldtidsækvivalent), der er beskæftiget i hvert af LuxOpCos teams, er indikeret i parentes.
Amazon continuously expands its selection, because the broader the selection, the better the customer experience.
For eksempel beskæftigede lokaliserings- og oversættelsesteamet, som efterfølgende blev overført til [et andet Amazon-selskab] og omdøbt til »Softwareudviklings- og oversættelsesteam«, [60-70] fuldtidsmedarbejdere ved slutningen af 2013.
Since preferences are local and category and vendor preferences differ by geography, selection is also local, as tastes and cultures are locally different.
Figur 3
This can be seen from comparing Amazon's top selling items, which are different in each country.
LuxOpCos organigram, som det så ud ved afslutningen på 2013
The goal and main responsibility on country level is to build a business mainly focused on physical retail and to create a relevant selection for the customer .
Chef med ansvar for forbindelserne hos Enterprise Solutions er en fælleseuropæisk stilling baseret i Luxembourg.
Once a partnership is established with a supplier, local vendor managers have to maintain that relationship, respecting the conditions of the suppliers and knowing the local market.
Tekniske kontoadministratorer med EU-ansvar er baseret i Luxembourg, mens tekniske kontoadministratorer dedikeret til handlende i et lokalt land er baseret i det pågældende land.
Amazon's Marketplace offers other retailers the use of Amazon's platform for their e-commerce business, even if they are direct competitors of Amazon.
Ovennævnte politik afspejles i fordelingen af stillinger og jobindehavere blandt Amazons europæiske enheder, sådan som det fremgår af listen over Amazons medarbejdere siden 1997.
Amazon created the technical account management (‘TAM’), which is the contact point for technical questions of Marketplace sellers after their launch on the Amazon websites.
Amazons medarbejdere i rollerne som direktør eller vicedirektør med ansvar inden for EU-området, er ansat hos LuxOpCo […] eller hos ASE […], mens medarbejdere med lavere jobposition eller kun ansvarlige for et enkelt land er ansat i de lokale datterselskaber i EU.
Amazon also developed its technology to allow self-service sign up for potential sellers on the Marketplace and, by 2010/2012, self-service sign up became more important for Amazon's Marketplace business.
Finansielle oplysninger om LuxOpCo
Price: According to Amazon, price is its second most important business driver.
LuxOpCos resultatopgørelser og balancer som præsenteret i årsregnskabet for årene 2006-2013 er gengivet i tabel 3.
Amazon endeavours to keep prices as low as possible.
Tabel 3
While manual pricing was predominantly used at Amazon until 2009, prices have since been set by a pricing algorithm.
Finansielle oplysninger om LuxOpCo for 2006-2013
Convenience: According to Amazon, its third business driver is convenience.
LuxOpCo fortjeneste og tab
Convenience consists of several goals aimed at facilitating and improving the customer experience, such as (i) helping customers find what they are searching for, while ensuring complete product information for the customer, and (ii) delivering purchased products as quickly and accurately as possible.
Nettoomsætning
Online marketing efforts
N/A
In addition to selection, price and convenience, Amazon's online marketing efforts are a key driver to bring traffic to Amazon websites and increase retail sales.
[13500-14000]
Prior to 2003, Amazon cooperated with international advertising agencies to support its marketing efforts.
Nettoomsætning
This changed in 2003, when Amazon started to pursue its own online marketing efforts.
Personaleudgifter
One of Amazon's main online marketing tools is its ‘Associates Program’, which is a key traffic driving initiative.
Andre driftsindtægter
Amazon developed the Associates Program to establish marketing partnerships with so-called ‘associated websites’ that advertise Amazon or its products to channel internet traffic to Amazon websites.
Royalties modtaget fra ASE
Once the technology for the Associates Program was developed, it had to be integrated in each country with local associate websites.
Royalties modtaget fra AMEU
Consequently, the implementation of the Associates Program could only be done locally.
Andre (eksterne) driftsudgifter
Therefore, Amazon's Associates Program team was split in a ‘software team’ and a ‘recruitment team’ (i.e. a business development team).
Royalties betalt til LuxSCS
While the software team was based entirely in Seattle, the recruitment teams were established locally in countries where Amazon operated a website, such as Germany, the UK, and Japan.
[20-30]
The selection of the most relevant local partner websites (websites that advertise Amazon products) for the Associates Program, which would subsequently increase traffic to Amazon's websites, requires local market know-how.
LuxOpCo konsolideret balance (mio. EUR)
Therefore, the network of associated websites is created by local Amazon teams.
Aktiver
This includes recruiting the local websites (including the EU websites), establishing the association fee, and controlling instances of fraud.
Anlægsaktiver
This process starts with large players like Google and goes down to special interest websites with few visitors.
Immaterielle anlægsaktiver
All agreements are negotiated locally, because local conditions have to be considered for search engine optimisation, even with global websites such as Google.
Materielle anlægsaktiver
Technology
Finansielle anlægsaktiver
Amazon describes itself as a technology company which ‘approaches retail as an engineering problem’.
Aktuelle aktiver
Thus, technology is an important part of Amazon's business.
Inventar
Technology allows Amazon to provide competitive prices, target suggestions for items to particular costumers, process payments, manage inventory and ship products to customers.
Debitorer
Technology is also necessary to support the scale of the business, since Amazon's business strategy relies on constant expansion.
Overdragelige værdipapirer
Amazon's technology is not static, but is continuously developed and improved.
Kontanter på bankkonto, kontantbeløb i postchecks, checks og kontantbeholdning
If Amazon did not update and maintain its technology, Amazon would not be able to provide the ‘comprehensive e-tail experience that underpins its commercial success’.
Forudbetalinger
In addition to maintaining and improving the existing technology, Amazon's teams develop software that supports new functionalities that are added over the years.
Aktiver i alt
As stated by Amazon, this is vital to its business since ‘[…] constant software development and innovation is indispensable to prevent Amazon's technology from becoming obsolete and the failure of its business operations’.
Passiver
Amazon strives to be reliable, available, fast and flexible in its operations.
Kapital og reserver
Amazon relies on both software and hardware technology.
Efterstillet gæld
Its software infrastructure is based on a so-called ‘service-oriented architecture’, which is essentially a collection of functions (‘services’) in the software that are able to communicate with each other.
Handelskreditorer
The individual services of Amazon's service-oriented architecture work together to provide varying types of retail functionality, both in internal processes and towards costumers.
Skyldige beløb til datterselskaber
This ensures, among others, easier maintenance of the individual software components, and a higher degree of innovation.
Skattegæld og gæld til socialforsikring
The main components of Amazon's software technology are described below:
Andre kreditorer og leverandørforpligtelser
Software platform: the software code developed by Amazon to operate its web sites consists of complex software tools that run the various features of the websites, such as search and navigation, order processing and personalisation.