WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) – The United States announced on Friday that it has decided to end a tax treaty with Hungary, a decision that comes after Budapest decided to block the European Union’s implementation of the 15% minimum tax rate on multinationals.
A spokesman for the Treasury Department explained this decision by the fact that Hungary lowered its corporation tax to 9%, while it amounts to 21% in the United States, which disadvantages the latter.
“The benefits are no longer reciprocal, with a significant loss of potential revenue for the United States,” he explained.
The timing chosen by Washington to make this announcement, which should be effective within six months, appears however as a means of pressuring Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to agree to implement the minimum tax rate. by 15%.
“Hungary has aggravated the US government’s concerns by blocking the EU directive on the global minimum tax rate,” the spokesperson confirmed.
“If Hungary imposed this minimum rate, the convention would be less unbalanced,” he added.
(Report by David Lawder, French version Tangi Salaün)
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