Ikea accused of evading more than $1 billion in taxes

BRUSSELS, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Swedish home goods company Ikea is accused of evading more than $1 billion in taxes, a new report said.

The company allegedly conducted "large-scale tax avoidance" between 2009 and 2014, a new report by the Green Party in the European Parliament indicates.

The report alleges Ikea knowingly engaged in profit shifting, or moving billions of euros in profit from highly taxed countries like Britain, France and Germany into subsidiaries or unnamed recipients in countries like Lichtenstein or Luxembourg, where the company would pay little to no taxes.

In 2014, Ikea allegedly avoided $39 million in taxes in Germany, $26 million in France and $13 million in Britain.

"Ikea Group is fully committed to manage its operations in a responsible and sustainable way and we pay our taxes in full compliance with national and international tax rules and regulations," the company said in a statement.

Though corporate profit shifting is common in Europe, Ikea's actions come at a time when the European Union has begun to crack down on corporations dodging taxes as it loses up to $78.4 billion a year from the practice.

Amazon and Google have both recently been accused of the same practice.