What’s the news?

• Tesla has seven companies registered to its complex in Amsterdam Zuidoost. One of these entities, Tesla Motors Netherlands (TMN), has a manufacturing agreement with the electric vehicle maker’s gigafactory in the German states of Brandenburg.
• TMN’s turnover was about 26 billion euros in 2023, nearly a third of Tesla Inc.’s revenue that year of some 97 billion dollars (approximately 85 billion euros).
• While Tesla Inc. recorded losses every year between its founding in 2003 until 2020, the Dutch entity TMN posted annual profits between its inception in 2011 and 2020.
• Yet TMN hardly pays any corporate income tax in Germany or the Netherlands, according to an analysis by Follow the Money.

Why does it matter?

• It is a particularly turbulent time for Tesla – in no small part due to the eccentric behaviour of its CEO Elon Musk – and its U.S. tax practices came under the spotlight earlier this year when it emerged that it paid no federal income tax in 2024.
• The company’s opaque and complex corporate structure means it is unclear where the profits made by its gigafactory in Germany are actually taxed. TMN’s annual accounts point to profit shifting and suggest a deal was made with the Dutch treasury, according to tax experts who reviewed Follow the Money’s findings.