EU aims tax proposals at US tech giants
- Author:Ella Cai
- Release on:2017-09-22
The EU has come up with three ways to tax the US tech giants: a tax on sales; a levy on ads; a withholding tax on payments to the companies.
The EU is now looking at imposing one of these three options unilaterally instead of in agreement with other countries.
“The EU must prepare to act in the absence of adequate global progress,” said EC vp Valdis Dombrovskis yesterday.
The EU specifically mentioned Amazon, Netflix, Airbnb and Facebook.
Some EU member states are against imposing taxes which are not agreed globally and, to counter their objections, the EU is proposing a change to the law which would bring in majority voting instead of the current unanimity vote required for tax legislation.
“There is a broader discussion whether we should move to decision-making based on majority also in the area of taxation,” said Dombrovskis.
Jean-Claude Juncker is planning to use exceptional powers to bring in majority-based voting on tax matters to replace the current unanimity-based voting system.
The EU is now looking at imposing one of these three options unilaterally instead of in agreement with other countries.
“The EU must prepare to act in the absence of adequate global progress,” said EC vp Valdis Dombrovskis yesterday.
The EU specifically mentioned Amazon, Netflix, Airbnb and Facebook.
Some EU member states are against imposing taxes which are not agreed globally and, to counter their objections, the EU is proposing a change to the law which would bring in majority voting instead of the current unanimity vote required for tax legislation.
“There is a broader discussion whether we should move to decision-making based on majority also in the area of taxation,” said Dombrovskis.
Jean-Claude Juncker is planning to use exceptional powers to bring in majority-based voting on tax matters to replace the current unanimity-based voting system.
