SHOP AROUND:
M&S; lost its Paris stores in 2001, but won the battle to pay less tax
As a business venture, the expansion into Continental Europe by British retailer Marks & Spencer, which accelerated in the mid-1990s, was an expensive failure. In 2001, the company shut down or sold its stores in Belgium, France and Germany after incurring losses of $186 million. But the ultimate cost, it now turns out, is likely to be far, far higher not for the firm itself, but for the British Treasury and governments across the European Union. The reason: Marks & Spencer is on the verge of setting a precedent in European tax law, one that directly challenges national tax policies...
