Germany’s economic minister has waded into an EU-level fight over Hungarian tax laws sparked by Deutsche Telekom and other European multinationals.
Rainer Bruederle backed calls by 13 companies for the European Commission to pressure Hungary to drop new tax laws that charge foreign firms more than domestic businesses.
The new laws could cost Deutsche Telekom – which owns Hungary’s Magyar Telecom - €100 million in back taxes Deutsche Welle reports.
Executives from German energy giant Eon, Dutch financial groups ING and Aegon, and French insurer AXA, were among those who called on EC president Jose Manuel Barroso to act in a five-page letter sent last month, the German daily said.
Bruederle told Sueddeutsche Zeitung that Hungary’s attempt to back-date the taxes is illegal under EU law - running contrary to the region’s competition rules.