Poland blocks EU compromise on global minimum corporate tax deal
2022.04.05 15:51
European Union and Poland’s flags flutter at the Orlen refinery in Mazeikiai, Lithuania April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
PARIS (Reuters) – Poland on Tuesday blocked a French-proposed compromise on how to implement a minimum corporate tax across the European Union in another blow to a global overhaul of international tax rules.
The Polish revenue chief said that despite amendments, Warsaw still had concerns that the minimum tax could enter into force without the new rules preventing big multinationals from booking profits in the most favourable countries.
Nearly 140 countries, including Poland, reached a two-track deal in October on a minimum tax rate of 15% on multinationals and agreed to make it harder for companies such as Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Google, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Meta’s Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) to avoid tax by booking profits in low-tax jurisdictions.
France, which holds the EU’s rotating six-month presidency, has pushed for a quick implementation of the deal in the 27-nation bloc, where tax issues require unanimous approval.
Poland was one of four countries to block an attempt last month to find a compromise, but Sweden, Estonia and Malta dropped their opposition after tweaks to the deal.
“It (the proposed compromise) is not a legally binding solution for assuring that both pillar I and pillar II enter into force in a similar point in time,” Polish revenue chief Magdalena Rzeczkowska told a meeting in Brussels.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that he was “absolutely not convinced” by Poland’s position, that Warsaw’s concerns had been taken into account and other member states had also made concessions.
Le Maire said that he would put the issue back on the agenda of the EU finance ministers’ next monthly meeting.
