Steven N.The European Parliament urgently addressed the issue of a national veto threatening the global tax agreement on Thursday after Hungary said last week that it did not support the new global tax for the richest companies, reported MTI.
Paolo Gentiloni, the European Commissioner responsible for economic policy, said that the European Commission had tried to come up with a proposal for a directive that would be acceptable for all Member States, but at the last minute, just one, Hungary, refused to support it.
He added that the Hungarian government cited the economic effects of the war in Ukraine as the reason not to accept the proposal.
But the Commissioner pointed out that the war in Ukraine is affecting all EU Member States, which is exactly why measures that generate revenue for the EU to protect its citizens from the effects of the war are needed. “A 15% corporate tax rate would be a huge benefit, so why deprive ourselves of it?” asked Gentiloni.
The initiative is also in line with a OECD framework proposal that has the agreement of 140 countries. As HVG‘s EUologist wrote, its intent is to eliminate tax havens that allow multinationals to avoid paying taxes or significantly lower their tax burdens. In addition, the proposal would generate an extra €48 billion (US $50.5 billion) in annual revenue for the Union.
Representing the current French presidency of the EU, Clément Beaune, France’s state secretary for European affairs, said that even with a Hungarian veto, the EU’s founding treaties allow a group of Member States to commit themselves to certain issues through so-called enhanced cooperation. This means that the other 26 Member States in the EU may decide to introduce a global minimum tax on their own, excluding Hungary. [Magyar Hang]
