LONDON (NEWSnet/AP) — Amazon won't have to pay about $273 million in back-taxes after European Union judges ruled in favor of the U.S. e-commerce giant.

The ruling Thursday by the EU's top court is final, ending a long-running legal battle over tax arrangements between Amazon and Luxembourg's government, and marking a further setback for a crackdown by antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager.

The Court of Justice backed a 2021 decision by judges in a lower court who sided with Amazon, saying European Commission, EU’s executive branch, had not proven that Amazon received illegal state support.

The commission said it “will carefully study the judgment and assess its implications.”

The case began in 2017, when Vestager charged Amazon with unfairly profiting from special low tax conditions since 2003 in tiny Luxembourg, where its European headquarters are based. As a result, almost 75% of Amazon’s profits in EU were not taxed, she said.

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