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UK Possibly Exploring "Google Tax"

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the price-of-success dept.

The UK government is considering proposals that could hit Google and other search engines with an online advertising tax to help boost revenue for the BBC. While these proposals are still in their infancy, some are already attacking the idea of taxing a growth industry in the middle of a recession. "Sources say the proposed taxes have been discussed by officials at the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. They would also have to be approved by the Treasury before they could be introduced. The chair of the culture, media and sport committee, Conservative MP John Whittingdale, dismissed what he called a 'windfall tax' on search engines."

13 of 312 comments (clear)

  1. Stop it already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Let's not micro-tax every single thing on the Internet! They already get tax-revenue from the ISPs. Can't that be enough?!?!

  2. Backfire? by TTURabble · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Couldn't Google et al just block the UK instead of paying the tax?
    I wonder what would happen if the entire island was unable to access any search engines.

    1. Re:Backfire? by bennomatic · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Don't forget VAT. Any time you buy anything other than food, books, children's clothes, or a smattering of exempt items, you pay a "value added tax" of 15% over the base retail cost of the goods. And it's going up to 17.5% in the not too distant future.

      And I thought that California's sales tax was high...

      --
      The CB App. What's your 20?
  3. Taxes have that effect on people by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This government is actually moronic enough to make me wish the Tories were in power.

    On this side of the pond, I was fascinated recently to see the number of tax protests being organized by local elected Democrats. It suited the national media's agenda to portray the tax protests as some kind of right wing/redneck phenomenon, but it was clear to anyone on the ground that it cut across the whole political spectrum.

    1. Re:Taxes have that effect on people by pwizard2 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Personally, I hope the tax protests are the first step in a revolution. Most people here in the US despise the way our government is going (big government, more bureaucracy, more waste, etc.) and we are sick of these politicians (People like Barney Frank and Pelosi especially come to mind) acting like all the money we make automatically belongs to them and that we are simply allowed to keep what is left over after they have taken what they want from us as tax. Government needs to be reminded that they serve US, not the other way around.

      --
      "It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
    2. Re:Taxes have that effect on people by falconwolf · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The problem is that the last couple administrations broke that rule by raising spending and lowering taxes during booms.

      Yes, and one of those admins, the Clinton admin, shrunk the national deficit he inherited. The Laffer curve illustrates that increasing taxes can actually reduce revenue not increase it. The lower taxes are the higher economic activity is which increases tax revenues.

      Falcon

      --
      Should there be a Law?
    3. Re:Taxes have that effect on people by pwizard2 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm not saying that Bush II did everything right, but Obama has made the deficit much worse by continuing the bailouts and pushing that huge Omnibus bill. All of that can be laid directly at the democrats' feet. (the republicans aren't much better, but they weren't in power when all this happened) The US is probably going to end up defaulting on that debt since there is no feasible way to pay if off. They can try to raise taxes to do it, but all that is going to do is reduce everyone to peasant status.

      --
      "It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
  4. Re:wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    No.

    If I were Google I'd just do my best to ban all of the UK.

  5. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  6. Why Not Just Advertising? by Bob9113 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why specify online advertising? Why not tax advertising in general?

    Advertising is hypothetically good because it increases the quality of information available to the consumer to make purchasing decisions. In practice, it typically does the opposite -- creating artificial demand -- particularly in industries like medicine and law where it is more difficult for the customer to be informed. It still serves a purpose, but it does have a negative external cost to society in reducing the quality of purchasing decisions. So, recapture that external cost the same way we recapture the external cost of pollution. A tax is a way to offset the negative externality.

    More simple option; just remove advertising from deductible expenses.

    See Also:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality

    Disclaimer: I work in the advertising industry, and a tax on advertising like I propose would actually hurt the company I work for. So, selfishly, I'd rather you ignore the rational basis for this post.

    --
    Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
  7. Don't make them angry by slapout · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One year from now. Somewhere in the UK.

    "I just googled for that new BBC show and got no hits..."

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
  8. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  9. Re:I don't know what's worse... by Jaysyn · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Meanwhile, here & Clay county they don't have enough money to pay for the public schools. Next school year when a teacher is out, instead of getting a substitute, they will split the class & send them to another teacher's class for the period. Instead of having ~30 kids in a class, the teacher will now have 45+.

    http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-02-17/story/clay_schools_funding_cut_may_double_to_43_million

    But oddly enough Clay County has money to spend on ridiculous billboards for the Clay County sheriff's office. There are 5 or 6 of them, at least two of them on Blanding Blvd, which is one of the the busiest roads (therefore expensive) in both counties.

    http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/slideshows/120208/362438147/slide1.shtml

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