BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Poland on Wednesday delayed the formal introduction of a minimum corporate tax for large companies by the European Union, thus blocking a whole other deal, including loans to Ukraine in 2023. said the diplomat. .
The €18bn ($19bn) to Ukraine next year, plus the minimum tax, approval of Hungary’s recovery plan and partial suspension of EU budget funding for Budapest all fall into the complexities agreed by EU governments on Monday night. was part of the agreement.
The deal was due to be approved in a so-called “written procedure” by Wednesday, but Poland has twice requested an extension of this deadline, with the latest due Thursday at 12:00 pm (1100 GMT). is.
An EU diplomat said: “Everything is being held over Poland’s problems with global taxes that no one understands.” “We have no idea what (Polish Prime Minister Mateusz) Morawiecki wants or intends to do. He has already agreed to the spring tax,” the diplomat said. .
EU diplomats have negotiated a legal deal with Brussels to get clear promises that Poland will get tens of billions of dollars in EU recovery funds from the remaining bloc of 27 countries, with Warsaw holding the entire package hostage. I’m guessing it may have been blocked by a dominance dispute.
One official said: “I heard on Monday that time is needed to bring the Minister of Justice on board. I don’t know how they are intertwined,” he said.
The issue is likely to be taken up at the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
A global minimum corporate tax of 15% has been agreed by 140 countries at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2021. This is to prevent large international corporations from shifting profits around the world to reduce taxes and thereby erode national tax bases.
The minimum tax rate applies to companies with an annual turnover of €750 million or more and EU countries must implement it into national law by the end of 2023. Big business he will have to pay the minimum tax rate from early 2024. .
($1 = 0.9399 Euro)
Reporting by Jan Strupczewski Editing by Mark Potter
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