After global big tech tax fails, France looks to EU for help

The French Finance Minister is bringing the battle for a digital tax to the EU since countries like India and the US have blocked the global deal.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) represents a global push for digital tax reform surrounding tech giants. However, the tax reform named Pillar One has encountered numerous roadblocks.

According to a report from Bloomberg, French Finance Minister Le Maire claims that the US, Saudi Arabia, and India have blocked the OECD's proposed tax deal. This has led to the Finance Minister calling on the EU to take charge.

"We'll call for the situation on Pillar One to be unblocked, but the chances of success are slim," Le Maire said Monday. "This calls for a digital tax to be extended to a European level as soon as possible."

Talks of a digital tax have been going in some form or another since 2018. France wanted to tax Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon to close loopholes used by the companies, but it was ultimately put off during trade negotiations with the US in 2020.

Then, the OECD announced a new global tax initiative backed by 137 governments. This international agreement has been through the wringer and ultimately was blocked, as the French Finance Minister pointed out.

It isn't clear if the EU will act on France's pleas, though it seems eager to regulate big tech in any way it can. France could also reawaken its digital tax push that was postponed in 2020 in favor of the OECD deal — though not without opposition from the US.

5 Comments

entropys 4303 comments · 13 Years

About 1 year ago

Here is a novel thought: how about governments spend as much time reducing spending as they spend trying to get more money for more empires?

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

entropys said:

Here is a novel thought: how about governments spend as much time reducing spending as they spend trying to get more money for more empires?

In socialist economies the idea of reducing spending is anathema to them. You continue spending until you run out of other people’s money, hence the push for the global tech tax.

jayweiss 76 comments · 13 Years

Most government agencies require departments to use up their entire budget every year. If you don’t use up your entire budget, you will not get more money the following year. Tax and spend is the motto of government policy.

If person or business acted the same way then the would be out of business. Governments on the other hand can just keep taxing and spending.

spheric 2702 comments · 9 Years

lkrupp said:

entropys said:

Here is a novel thought: how about governments spend as much time reducing spending as they spend trying to get more money for more empires?

In socialist economies the idea of reducing spending is anathema to them. You continue spending until you run out of other people’s money, hence the push for the global tech tax.

Whereas in capitalist countries, the people who contribute millions of dollars to your personal election campaign coffers are rewarded with tax cuts and business deregulation that rewards corporate greed, while the rest shoulder the tax burden that pays for your seat in Congress, while not being able to make a living off full-time jobs and trying to subsist on poisoned water.

Both worlds have problems, but in one, megacorps pay slightly higher taxes, and in the other, people die because megacorps are maximising profits.

Welp.

beowulfschmidt 2349 comments · 12 Years

spheric said:

lkrupp said:

entropys said:

Here is a novel thought: how about governments spend as much time reducing spending as they spend trying to get more money for more empires?

In socialist economies the idea of reducing spending is anathema to them. You continue spending until you run out of other people’s money, hence the push for the global tech tax.

Whereas in ~~capitalist~~oligarchical fascist countries, the people who contribute millions of dollars to your personal election campaign coffers are rewarded with tax cuts and business deregulation that rewards corporate greed, while the rest shoulder the tax burden that pays for your seat in Congress, while not being able to make a living off full-time jobs and trying to subsist on poisoned water.

Both worlds have problems, but in one, megacorps pay slightly higher taxes, and in the other, people die because megacorps are maximising profits.

Welp.

Fixed that for ya. The U.S., at least, has been trending steadily fascist since FDR. Arguably before that even, but he accelerated it.