(Telecompaper) The European Commission has ordered Amazon to pay back EUR 250 million in unpaid takes after ruling that it benefited from illegal state aid from Luxembourg. The decision, which confirms recent reports, follows a three-year probe into tax arrangements between the US online retailer and Luxembourg, with the European Commission having already ruled that the 2003 sweetheart deal "constituted state aid". In a statement, EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Luxembourg's "illegal tax advantages to Amazon" had allowed almost three-quarters of the company's profits to go untaxed, meaning it paid four times less tax than rival local companies.