European Union Delays Tax On Biggest Tech Companies

The European Union will delay placing a tax on the biggest technology companies — including Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG and Facebook, Inc. FB — as the countries with the biggest 20 economies have agreed to create a global minimum tax, according to New York Times reporting Monday.

The deal would execute a minimum tax of 15% and would allow countries to tax large, profitable corporations contingent on where their goods and services are sold.

For decades, large, multinational firms have attempted to avoid paying higher taxes by setting up their headquarters in places like Ireland — where Twitter Inc TWTR, Apple Inc AAPL, Facebook, Pfizer Inc. PFE and Google’s European headquarters reside.

Why It Matters: At least 55 of America’s largest corporations paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year, according to an Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report.

Many Americans have been criticizing large companies for not paying “their fair share” to the American public, including the Biden administration.