BRUSSELS, March 23 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday that the fact that digital companies pay an average 8-percent tax can not be continued.
Juncker said at a press conference after the EU summit meeting held here that normal conventional companies pay 20 to 23 percent, and that the plan for a digital tax is not an action against the United States.
"That can't continue. This is why the Commission has made a suggestion as to how in a provisional way we can ensure that these companies can be taxed more heavily," Juncker said. "This is not an action against the U.S. in any way."
The European Commission on Wednesday proposed two legislative proposals about rewriting tax rules for Internet companies, most of which are based in the United States, as trade tensions heightened across the Atlantic.
If the proposals become law, companies that will be hit the most are U.S. tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, known as Gafa.
Juncker said that about 150 companies would be subjected to this particular specific type of tax.
"About 50 percent of these companies are based outside of Europe and about 50 percent in Europe. That is shared up between America, Asia and Europe," he said.
"We do not want to refer to or to tax any specific companies. This is to be an across-the-border solution," he added.
He said the EU leaders will return to this issue in June.
