TALLINN, Estonia (AP) – There’s a groundswell of support in the European Union to make sure that digital U.S. giants pay more taxes on their lucrative business in Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday.
He said he already counted 19 of 28 nations in support of plans for continent-wide fiscal rules on taxing major internet companies. Ireland disagreed with the proposal and said many Nordic countries had joined it in opposition.
The issue came to a head last year when the EU ordered Ireland to collect a record 13 billion euros ($15.3 billion) in taxes from Apple Inc., arguing that it had profited from a system allowing it to escape almost all taxes the EU felt were due.
“Today the market is dysfunctional. It is not normal that companies make excessive profits and pay nothing in taxes,” Macron said, painting a situation where the giants of industry were able to profit in Europe and small startups suffered because of it.
The plan for a tax system that should hit U.S. tech companies harder will be coming up at EU ministerial meetings later this fall and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he was convinced a deal would emerge.