France will impose taxes on the giants of the digital industry
The French country announced that it will apply rates to companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and others of 3% of the figures they negotiate within the territory
France will finally impose a tax on digital giants, known as “GAFA Rate” in reference to Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, for which it will tax with 3% of the turnover generated in French territory by large digital service companies. The measure was approved despite pressures received from the US, which decided on Wednesday to open an investigation into the matter to consider that “unfairly deals to American companies.”
The French Senate voted on Thursday in favor of the pioneering bill for the creation of a tax on digital services, making the French country the first to establish this tax, after disagreements to set a similar tax at the level European Union in the hope of reaching an agreement in this regard within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
In fact, in the image of the project finally blocked at European level, the tribute approved in France will tax by 3% the income of digital services companies that bill at least 25 million euros in the country and more than 750 million euros a world level.
According to the calculations of the French Government, this tax will raise about 400 million euros in 2019 and up to 650 million next year. Around thirty companies in the sector will be affected by the new tax, of which most are US companies.
Last March, the EU countries renounced the creation of a European tax that exacerbated the activity of digital multinationals, despite the fact that the majority of EU partners, including France, Spain, Germany and Italy, were favorable at the rate, which counted, however, with the frontal opposition of Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and Finland.
In the case of Spain, the negotiation proposal submitted by the PSOE to Podemos to reach an agreement that allows the formation of a new government does not include the creation of a tax on digital services, better known as the “Google tax”, advocating because a tax is established at European level, despite the fact that the previous Government of Pedro Sánchez even went so far as to bring to the lower house a preliminary bill for the creation of a fee on certain digital services.
K. Tovar
Source: CNN
