The power of EU lobbyists -UK taxpayers face £50bn bill after EU judges overrule our tax laws - exposing how multinationals use EU courts to claw back taxes

 UK taxpayers face £50bn bill after EU judges overrule our tax laws

Tax rules were drawn up by Treasury officials and approved by MPs
    But European Court of Justice ruled them illegal, forcing HMRC to issue huge refunds to businesses
    Priti Patel says the figures show how the EU favours multinational firms
    But Employment minister adds that small businesses will be better off out

By Matt Dathan, Political Correspondent For Mailonline

Published: 17:22, 10 April 2016 | Updated: 20:34, 10 April 2016

British taxpayers could lose as much as £50billion due to EU judges overruling the UK's tax laws.  HMRC has already been forced to pay back £7.87billion in the last decade after European Court of Justice cases ruled certain business tax rules in Britain illegal.

Documents from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) reveal that HMRC will be forced to pay back a further £7.3billion before 2020.  The rules deemed illegal by EU judges were drawn up by Treasury officials and implemented after being approved by MPs in the House of Commons.

The figures, unveiled by the Vote Leave campaign, expose the extent to which multinational firms use the European Court of Justice to cut their tax bills and reclaim billions of pounds from the UK taxpayer.

The amount HMRC sets aside to settle litigation concerning taxes subject to challenge has increased from £34million in 2005/06 to £7.2billion in 2015/16, the OBR figures reveal.  Brexit campaigners said the money HMRC was forced to pay back to firms was enough to pay for 25 fully-staffed hospitals and two more Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

The bill could soar even higher, however, if the Treasury loses ongoing court cases at the European Court of Justice, with another £35.6billion at risk - nearly half the UK's annual deficit. The types of taxes the EU declared unlawful include a form of corporation tax on profits distributed by a subsidiary to a parent company and stamp duty serve tax - a levy raised on electronic paperless share transactions.

EU judges also blocked the UK government from reducing the time limit on businesses claiming for overpaid tax.   Leading Brexit Cabinet minister Priti Patel said: 'The EU may be good for some big multi-national businesses, but the truth is it's bad for smaller firms and UK taxpayers,' she said.

'People will be shocked that big business is taking British taxpayers to court in Europe where unelected judges are overruling the decisions of our parliament on tax rules - costing us all billions. 'That's on top of the £350 million we already hand over to Brussels every single week. We need to Vote Leave to stop this abuse.