EU aims to tax internet giants at ‘two to six percent’: France

AFP, PARIS: The EU will soon unveil a plan for taxing major internet companies like Amazon and Facebook by imposing a levy of two to

six percent on revenues in every country where they operate, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said yesterday.

"The range will be from two to six percent; but closer to two than to six," Le Maire told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

The European Commis-sion has said it will present by end March an overhaul of its tax rules, which currently allow US digital economy giants to report their income from across the bloc in any member state.

That leads them to pick low-tax nations like Ireland, the Netherlands or Luxembourg, depriving other nations of their share of the revenue even though they may account for more of a company's earnings.

"The heads of these companies know themselves that this system can't continue," Le Maire said.

Critics say the tax-avoidance strategies used by the tech titans known as GAFA -- Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple -- deprive EU governments of billions of euros while giving them an unfair advantage over smaller rivals.

 

EU aims to tax internet giants at two to six percent: France

AFP, PARIS: The EU will soon unveil a plan for taxing major internet companies like Amazon and Facebook by imposing a levy of two to six percent on revenues in every country where they operate, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said yesterday. The range will be from two to six percent; but closer to two than to six, Le Maire told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. The European Commis-sion has said it will present by end March an overhaul of its tax rules, which currently allow US digital economy giants to report their income from across the bloc in any member state. That leads them to pick low-tax nations like Ireland, the Netherlands or Luxembourg, depriving other nations of their share of the revenue even though they may account for more of a companys earnings. The heads of these companies know themselves that this system cant continue, Le Maire said. Critics say the tax-avoidance strategies used by the tech titans known as GAFA -- Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple -- deprive EU governments of billions of euros while giving them an unfair advantage over smaller rivals.