The Left group in the European Parliament has set out why the EU needs an “excess profits” tax, in an explorative analysis of the largest and most profitable companies published on Thursday 16 May.
“Excess profits” are defined as a ratio of profits over assets. Rates of return are considered ‘normal’ when this ratio reaches a limit of 10% and ‘excess’ when this ratio reaches a limit of 15%.
The analysis is based on four arguments in favour of this measure: Taxing “excess...