A confidential report reveals rulings the Dutch tax office has made with large companies to make the country more fiscally attractive to them, Trouw reported on Wednesday.

In the report, tax officials warned junior finance minister Eric Wiebes that many of the Dutch rulings were coming under the scrutiny of the EU and the OECD. Both are working on measures to combat tax avoidance.

Trouw has seen the document which details the most important agreements between the tax office and big companies. Parliament has never seen the document, dating back to 2015, despite several requests for more openness on the subject.

The report sums up Dutch government policy in the international discussion about tax avoidance, said Leiden university law professor Jan Vleggeert. ‘In short, we have no problem at all in helping companies avoid taxes just so long as it is not illegal. It is legal, we earn money on it, so why should we stop?’

The tax officials warned that some of the rulings were very controversial while others are of great benefit to letterbox companies operated by non-Dutch companies.  Moreover the Dutch tax office rarely shared information with its counterparts in other countries, Trouw said.

Ikea and Starbucks

Last year, Wiebes refused to give MPs in parliament’s finance committee a confidential briefing on the deal made between the Dutch tax office and Swedish furniture group Ikea.

Although MPs technically have the right to the information, Wiebes turned down the request, saying the confidentiality aspects are more important than MPs’ right to know.

Wiebes has also been under fire over a deal struck with Starbucks. And last year, business magazine Quote claimed Google pushed €11bn in royalty payments through a letterbox firm in the Netherland with no employees and which paid just €2.7m in tax.

The Dutch tax office has made 14,619 advance tax agreements with international companies since 1991 and refused a further 1,590, the Financieele Dagblad said in June.