Up-dated 18.07.2019
France: Digital Tax
The US administration has opened an investigation whether French plan to impose a digital tax on technology giants like Facebook and Google amounts to an unfair trade practice, a move that could result in retaliatory tariffs.
France is planning a tax on technology giants such as Facebook and Google who underpay taxes in France in proportion to their overall revenue.
At present, digital firms are able to pay little or no corporate tax in countries where they do not have a large physical presence. They declare most of their profits where they are headquartered. According to estimates from the European Commission, average traditional businesses face a 23% tax rate on their profits within the EU, while internet companies typically pay 8% or 9%.
A proposal by the European Commission was finally abandonned in March 2019. France decided to go on its own.
More on French digital tax (in French) here …
More on “Section 301″ investigations and French digital tax (in English) here …
