EU flags in front of the European Commission. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Increasing the conflict over what country can tax multinational companies, the European Commission on Wednesday ordered Amazon.com Inc. to pay $294 million to Luxembourg, saying the online retailer had received illegal tax benefits between 2006 and 2014.

To further make its point about collecting taxes from multinationals, the commission also said it would take Ireland into the European Court of Justice for dragging its feet in collecting some $14.5 billion in back taxes from Apple Inc. The EU ruled in 2016 that Cupertino, California-based Apple owed the taxes. Both Apple and Ireland have appealed the 2016 ruling.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew criticized the EU rulings in various news outlets, saying they were overriding national legal authority. The Business Roundtable, a lobbying group for America's largest companies, called the move a “reckless and dramatic overreach” and an “act of aggression” against a company and a sovereign government.