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Austria failed to clinch a “digital tax” deal during its “European Union presidency”, whereby on Saturday, 29 December 2018, it has revealed that the country has plans of introducing its “own levy on tech companies” such as Amazon and Facebook while the bloc “works on its plan”.
For Austria, the six-month presidency tenure at EU will end with this year, as the baton will be passed onto Romania. The EU Finance Minister did not agree with “a tax on digital revenues” that was presented in a meeting held this very month, even though there was a “last-minute Franco-German” attempt to recover the proposal. Thus, Pierre Moscovici, the “European Economic Affairs Commissioner”, said that the plans of an equal tax scheme across the EU still remain on the table.
In a statement, the Chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz said:
“In addition to the European plan ... we will take a national step. We will introduce a digital tax in Austria”.
“The aim is clear: taxation of companies that make large profits online but barely pay taxes - such as Facebook and Amazon”.
In the meantime, the finance minister, Hartwig Loeger is looking into a proposal that is meant to form part of a “tax reform” to be introduced in the coming year. The details regarding the same proposal will be revealed during the cabinet meeting which will be held on January 10, 2019 and on January 11, 2019.
Earlier, Austria has stated that in case the EU does not come up with a digital tax scheme, the country will implement its own. However, the statement of Kurz does not clarify if the “EU plan was dead”. In Kurz’s words:
“A lot of progress was made at the European level (during Austria’s presidency). There is an agreement in principle that there should be an EU digital tax”.
References:
reuters.com
For Austria, the six-month presidency tenure at EU will end with this year, as the baton will be passed onto Romania. The EU Finance Minister did not agree with “a tax on digital revenues” that was presented in a meeting held this very month, even though there was a “last-minute Franco-German” attempt to recover the proposal. Thus, Pierre Moscovici, the “European Economic Affairs Commissioner”, said that the plans of an equal tax scheme across the EU still remain on the table.
In a statement, the Chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz said:
“In addition to the European plan ... we will take a national step. We will introduce a digital tax in Austria”.
“The aim is clear: taxation of companies that make large profits online but barely pay taxes - such as Facebook and Amazon”.
In the meantime, the finance minister, Hartwig Loeger is looking into a proposal that is meant to form part of a “tax reform” to be introduced in the coming year. The details regarding the same proposal will be revealed during the cabinet meeting which will be held on January 10, 2019 and on January 11, 2019.
Earlier, Austria has stated that in case the EU does not come up with a digital tax scheme, the country will implement its own. However, the statement of Kurz does not clarify if the “EU plan was dead”. In Kurz’s words:
“A lot of progress was made at the European level (during Austria’s presidency). There is an agreement in principle that there should be an EU digital tax”.
References:
reuters.com
