Germany welcomes EU tax transparency deal for big companies

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s finance minister has welcomed an agreement requiring large companies in the European Union to reveal how much tax they paid in which country. The deal was struck late Tuesday between representatives of the EU’s 27 nations and the European Parliament. It ends five years of haggling over country-by-country reporting rules for corporations with total consolidated revenue of more than 750 million euros across more than one country in two consecutive financial years. Among the companies affected will be major international companies like Google, Amazon and Apple. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said: “This is a huge step for greater tax justice.” Tax avoidance measures by large companies costs the EU more than 50 billion euros ($61 billion) each year.