The Financial Times reported that the European Commission is looking at expanding a lump-sum levy on large firms so it can raise revenue without a US-only digital tax.
Brussels is considering taxing large US technology companies through a broad levy on big corporations, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, in an effort to raise EU revenue without a tax aimed only at digital services. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report.
The FT, citing six officials, said the European Commission is looking at ways to capture more income from groups such as Apple, Meta and Google without singling them out. Officials are considering changes to the Corporate Resource for Europe proposal, known as CORE.
In its current form, CORE would require companies operating in the EU with annual revenue above 100 million euros, about $112 million, to pay a fixed annual levy of between 100,000 and 750,000 euros. An EU official told the FT that some capitals oppose a pure digital tax because they do not want to upset Washington, while many oppose CORE, and that one idea is to expand the tax to cover most big companies.
President Donald Trump threatened in June a 100 percent tariff on goods from any country that imposes a digital services tax on American companies. The Commission, Apple, Google, Meta and the Computer and Communications Industry Association did not immediately respond to Reuters.
The report describes internal discussions, not a published legislative text. No vote or effective date was announced.
People Sentiments Mixed
- An EU official told the Financial Times that some capitals do not want a digital tax that upsets the United States.