Ebay is based in Luxemburg, if it were in an offshore fiscal paradise I would have understood, but hey this is Europe. If something is broken in Europe don't blame companies, they're not the ones sitting in parliament.
If you've ever purchased Apple apps through the app store in Europe, you'll notice the developer is listed as "iTunes S.a.r.l". It's similar for web-services purchased through "Amazon Services Europe S.a r.l" and transactions through PayPal and Skype. All are registered as companies in Luxembourg[0], to take advantage of more attractive tax structures and legal codes while still being within the EU trading zone. Skype seems to be a bit of an exception in that most of its engineering is done there too, not just the financial transactions. Apple purportedly is not much more than a small office[1].
That's what I meant with "something is broken in Europe". The concept of tax competition has been encouraged by the european commission. They've created this situation where each country competes against others. I won't blame the companies for playing by their rules.
