This could put a thorn in the side of the minister of economy and finance, Bruno Le Maire, which multiplies the efforts to convince Europe to adopt a european tax on the GAFA, the acronym that refers to Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple. Sixteen leaders of major european companies in the digital, sent Tuesday, October 30, a letter to european finance ministers calling for ” not to adopt measures that would cause a material damage to economic growth, innovation and employment in Europe “.
Also read :
How France is trying to save the tax in the european digital
Among them are Daniel Ek, boss of Spotify, Kati Levoranta, the patron saint of the creator of video games, finland Rovio, Robert Gentz, co-founder of the e-commerce site Zalando, or Gillian Tans, who runs the site tour reservations Booking.com.
Their fears, to be the collateral victims of this tax is expected to hit 3 % of the revenues of a company from 750 million euros of turnover, of which 50 million in Europe.
While the threshold has been established for catching the giants of the Silicon Valley, who pay very little taxes in Europe, so it would be low enough to hit the very best technological facilities. “The proposed fee will have a disproportionate impact on the european businesses “, say the signatories, referring to other potential effects such as double taxation on their activities.
Convince Germany, Denmark and Sweden
“The price charged to consumers could increase to the extent that businesses would be forced to bear these costs, while others would not be able to align itself and would therefore not be able to bear these financial burdens “, are those which urge the ministers to consider these comments at their meeting on November 6.
Also read :
Tax digital : the concerns of Paris in front of the reluctance of some countries
In a report on international tax evasion published on 18 September at the national Assembly, the deputies stressed that this new tax could affect between ” 120 and 150 companies, of which approximately 50 % american, 30 % european, 20 % remaining, mainly in Asia, particularly China “.
If he has persuaded twenty countries to join in its views, The Mayor has yet to rally to his cause in Germany, but also Denmark and Sweden is still in full reflection. In the meantime, the United Kingdom has chosen not to wait, announcing Monday the project of a levy of 2 % on the platforms of intermediation, such as search engines or social networks, provided that they generate more than 500 million pounds sterling (561 million euros) by year of income and whether they are cost-effective.
