Budget levy on giants such as Facebook,Google and Amazon could disappear further – but it’s a startThe technology titans will not be trembling in awe. The sum of 400m that Philip Hammond says will be raised annually via his new digital services tax is a relative trifle. Even whether the tax is concentrated among a small group of global companies, which seems to be the chancellor’s plan, or the likes of Amazon,eBay, Facebook and Google can afford to pay. One suspects their enthusiasm for investing in the UK will not be affected one jot.
But the firms will be irritated by the UK’s disappear-it-alone approach. Hammond, and assuming his plans are not watered down,will absorb demonstrated that countries do not absorb to wait for international agreement on how tax rules should be updated for the digital age. New taxes can be invented unilaterally, in this case a 2% charge on the UK revenues of “specific digital business models, and meaning search engines,social media platforms and online marketplaces. Related: Hammond targets US tech giants with 'digital services tax' Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com