Slashdot Mirror
Three European Countries Block Tax On Tech Giants (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire's efforts to rally his European Union colleagues around a new tax on tech giants fell short, as countries skeptical of the plan doubled down on their opposition, and others, including Italy, said they'll push ahead with their own plans. Ministers from Denmark, Ireland and Sweden said they couldn't support the tax in its current form, casting doubt on the proposal's future, since unanimity is required to pass taxes in the EU. The plan on the table would impose a 3 percent levy on the European sales of the likes of Amazon and Facebook. A number of countries are already imposing taxes of their own, increasing the risk of fragmentation in the single market. Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said an Italian tax will kick in next year if there's no broader agreement by then. Spain and the U.K. have already announced their own levies.
you can't tax something that can move out of the nation and out of the EU.
Tax needs a captive product/service that has to stay in that nation.
Low taxation is what attracted US brands to parts of the EU.
When the EU places new tax the same US brands will just look for better tax rates globally.
When the only attractive offer to stay in a nation was a low tax rate, don't remove the one thing keeping a brand in your nation.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"