EU Eyes €1 trillion Budget with Tax on Big Companies

- New progressive tax to target €50 million+ companies - Measures aim to bolster €1.2 trillion EU budget According to media reports on July 12, 2025, the European Commission plans to introduce a progressive tax on companies earning €50 million or more annually. The Commission will use this revenue to support its next seven-year budget and expects to release a formal proposal next week that seeks to boost funding for defense, industrial policy, and debt servicing. The Commission has dubbed the tax the "corporate resource for Europe." It would apply to both EU-based and non-EU multinationals, with higher-revenue firms paying progressively more. This initiative is part of a comprehensive package to finance a projected, significantly expanded EU budget that will surpass the current €1.2 trillion framework. In addition, the Commission is considering other revenue measures, including increasing the EU's share of tobacco excise duties, introducing a fee on uncollected e-waste, and applying a handling charge on low-cost e-commerce packages. The Commission reportedly shelved earlier proposals, such as a carbon tax on households and a digital services tax, due to political resistance, particularly from the United States. However, this corporate tax plan faces a key challenge in the approval process, as all 27 EU member states must unanimously agree for it to pass. Historically, net-contributing nations such as Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, and Finland have opposed measures that could raise their financial contributions to the EU budget. This proposal follows the Commission's prior efforts to secure new EU revenue sources. In June 2023, the Commission introduced a temporary resource based on company profits. Additionally, in September 2023, officials discussed the "Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation" (BEFIT) proposal, which aims to establish a unified corporate tax framework for large multinational firms operating within the EU. According to CoinMarketCap, as of 12:00 UTC on July 12, Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $2,145, reflecting a 1.8% increase in 24-hour trading volume. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) stands at $31,200, recording a 1.2% change during the same period.