Key facts
- Brussels is considering a broad levy on large corporations to tax US tech companies.
- The proposed tax would apply to companies with EU revenue exceeding €100 million annually.
- The European Commission is modifying its 'Corporate Resource for Europe' (CORE) proposal.
- The current CORE proposal requires a fixed annual levy of €100,000 to €750,000.
- Some EU capitals oppose a pure digital tax to avoid upsetting the US.
- US President Donald Trump previously threatened tariffs on countries imposing digital services taxes on American firms.
Brussels is considering a new tax strategy that would apply a broad levy on large corporations, including major US tech companies, to increase European Union revenues. The move aims to avoid a direct confrontation with the Trump administration over digital services taxes.
The European Commission is reportedly working on modifications to its 'Corporate Resource for Europe' (CORE) proposal. The revised plan would require all companies operating within the EU with annual revenues exceeding €100 million ($112.32 million) to contribute a fixed annual tax. This approach broadens the tax base beyond a specific digital services tax, which has drawn opposition from some EU member states concerned about upsetting the United States.
In its current form, the CORE proposal mandates a fixed annual levy ranging from €100,000 to €750,000, capturing only a small fraction of multinational earnings. An EU official told the Financial Times that expanding the tax to cover most large companies is seen as a solution to the opposition faced by a pure digital tax and the CORE proposal itself.
US President Donald Trump previously threatened to impose 100% tariffs on goods from any country that implements a digital services tax on American companies. The US Trade Representative's office has argued that such levies unfairly target US firms, which dominate the global tech sector.