The EU has abandoned hopes of agreeing a temporary Europe-wide tax on big online companies by the end of the year after a Nordic-led group opposed the measure, arguing it would impede European entrepreneurs and invite retaliation from the US.
At a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, finance ministers from Sweden, Denmark and Ireland said they could not sign up to a plan to impose a revenue-based tax on the biggest internet groups, scuppering the French-backed proposal targeting companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google.
The EU has been grappling with draft plans for a 3 per cent tax on the revenues of large internet companies, which would revolutionise corporation tax rules that normally only impose levies on profits.