European Commission considers broader levy for large companies — Channel NewsAsia

In Brussels, Belgium, the European Commission is considering the possibility of changing the corporate levy for large companies operating in the EU. Such a mechanism could cover U.S. technology groups, including Apple, Meta and Google, Channel NewsAsia reports, citing the Financial Times.

Possible changes to CORE

According to the Financial Times, the European Commission is looking for ways to raise more revenue from technology groups without singling them out with a separate tax. Citing six officials familiar with the discussions, the newspaper reported possible changes to the Corporate Resource for Europe, or CORE, proposal.

In its current form, CORE предусматривает an annual fixed contribution for all companies operating in the EU with annual revenue exceeding €100 million. The levy ranges from €100,000 to €750,000. The Financial Times noted that the current model covers only a small portion of multinational corporations' revenue.

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U.S. reaction

One EU official told the Financial Times that some capitals of the bloc's countries oppose a purely digital tax in order not to aggravate relations with the United States. According to the official, even more capitals object to CORE in its current form, so a possible solution could be to extend the levy to almost all large companies.

In June, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on all goods from countries that introduce a digital services tax for U.S. companies. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said such taxes discriminate against U.S. businesses, which dominate the sector. Reuters was unable to immediately independently confirm the Financial Times report; the European Commission, the CCIA association, Apple, Google and Meta did not provide comments outside business hours.