EU considers bigger levy on large companies to tax Big Tech

The European Commission is looking to collect more money from Apple, Meta, Google, and other US tech companies, according to the Financial Times, which spoke with six officials who are familiar with the discussions.

The Commission plans to do this by introducing a levy on large companies overall. Their goal is to avoid a tax that targets only tech companies, which could upset the Trump administration.

The plan is based on an existing proposal called the Corporate Resource for Europe, or CORE. Under this plan, any company in the EU with yearly revenue over €100 million would pay a lump sum each year to the EU budget.

Right now, these payments range from €100,000 to €750,000 a year. For big multinational companies, this is only a small part of their earnings, so Brussels is considering ways to increase the amount collected.

“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 official suggested expanding the levy to include nearly all large companies. This way, Brussels could target tech giants without mentioning them directly.

The Commission introduced CORE in July 2025 as part of its search for new EU revenue sources. According to Reuters, leaked drafts from that time showed the digital tax aimed at US tech companies was dropped in favor of a broader charge.

Any EU tax plan must be approved by all 27 member states, so each government has the power to veto it.

Taxing US tech companies has been a sensitive issue for Washington. President Donald Trump has often criticized EU rules on Big Tech, and earlier digital tax plans in Europe have stalled because of threats of US trade retaliation.