Apple and other big tech companies such as Google and Meta are increasingly likely to pay an annual fixed levy under a European Union plan to raise new funds. The EU is weighing a compromise that would secure tax revenue from big tech while avoiding trade friction with the United States.

NineToFiveMac and Reuters reported on Oct. 7 that the European Commission is discussing ways to revise the Corporate Resource (CORE) scheme. CORE is a system that imposes an annual fixed levy on companies above a certain size doing business in the EU and uses it to fund the EU budget. Unlike a digital services tax, it does not target only U.S. technology companies and applies regardless of sector or nationality.

Under the Commission plan, companies with annual net sales in the EU of more than 100 million euros ($112 million) would be charged 100,000 to 750,000 euros ($112,000 to $839,000) a year depending on revenue bands. The EU estimated it could raise an average of about 6.8 billion euros ($7.6 billion) a year from 2028 to 2034. More recently, it has been considering raising the threshold to reduce the burden on mid-sized European companies and instead increase the payments of very large companies such as Apple, Google and Meta. The new threshold and amounts have not been finalised.

Concerns about trade tensions with the United States also lie behind the EU move. The Trump administration has warned it could respond, including with retaliatory tariffs, to overseas digital taxes it sees as unfavourable to U.S. companies. Applying the same standard to all large companies is seen as a way to reduce criticism that only U.S. firms are being singled out.

Uncertainty in the international tax system also played a role. President Trump declared last year that the OECD global tax agreement would not take effect in the United States without legislation by the U.S. Congress. The OECD later set out this year a 'side-by-side' approach to operating the global minimum tax with 147 countries and jurisdictions, but disputes over country-by-country digital taxation remain.

CORE would require additional procedures, including unanimous agreement by EU member states, to take effect. The goal is to introduce it in 2028, when the EU's 2028-2034 long-term budget begins.