Brussels looks to capture Big Tech through tax on large corporations, FT reports

Oct 7 (Reuters) - Brussels is considering taxing big US tech companies through a broad levy on large corporations in an effort to raise revenues for the EU while avoiding a backlash from the Trump administration, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The European Commission was working on new ways to capture more income from tech groups such as Apple, Meta and Google without singling them out, the newspaper reported, citing six officials with knowledge of the discussions.

Brussels was considering changes to its "Corporate Resource for Europe" (CORE) proposal that would require all companies operating in the EU with revenue of more than €100 million ($112.32 million) a year to pay an annual lump-sum tax contribution, the report said.

In its current form, CORE requires these companies to pay a fixed annual levy of between €100,000 and €750,000, capturing only a small portion of a multinational company’s earnings.

"Some (EU) capitals are opposed to a pure digital tax because they don’t want to upset the Americans, and many more are opposed to CORE," an EU official told the FT. "The solution is to expand (the tax) to cover pretty much all the big companies."

"The Commission remains ready to support the Council and European Parliament in reaching an agreement on the new own resources package... as they are essential to ensure the adequate financing of our joint priorities over the next decade," a spokesperson for the EU's executive arm told Reuters.

Apple, Google, Meta, and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which represents several US tech companies, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment outside regular business hours.

US President Donald Trump in June threatened a 100% tariff on all goods from any country that imposes a digital services tax on American companies.

The US Trade Representative's office, which has long threatened European countries with retaliatory tariffs if they impose such taxes, has argued that these levies discriminate against US companies, which dominate the sector globally.

($1 = 0.8903 euros)

(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)