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posted by mrpg on Thursday March 22 2018, @03:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the plus-d'argent dept.

Technology giants face European 'digital tax' blow

Big technology firms face paying more tax under plans announced by the European Commission. It said companies with significant online revenues should pay a 3% tax on turnover for various online services, bringing in an estimated €5bn (£4.4bn). The proposal would affect firms such as Facebook and Google with global annual revenues above €750m and taxable EU revenue above €50m.

The move follows criticism that tech giants pay too little tax in Europe. EU economics affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici said the "current legal vacuum is creating a serious shortfall in the public revenue of our member states". He stressed it was not a move against the US or "GAFA" - the acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. According to the Commission, top digital firms pay an average tax rate of just 9.5% in the EU - far less than the 23.3% paid by traditional companies.

Also at Reuters and WSJ.


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @05:30PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @05:30PM (#656713)

    Firstly, it's not a very solid argument to say "Show me my signature" simply because people think that your heritage and your benefit from the existing system implies consent; when in Rome, you consent to doing as the Romans do.

    The real point remains:

    It's a fragile system of social organization when it depends so enormously on implicit consent; it's a fragile system when people resent that system. Put another way: Society is something that emerges from the will of every individual; that's why capitalism is the necessary foundation of any functional society, because an anti-fragile system of social organization can only emerge when that very system is aligned with each (or nearly each) individual's self interest and thus said individual's explicit approval. In this case, the explicit approval might be the purchase of a good or service (as opposed to forced funding at the point of a gun).

    Even in a society were the explicit philosophy of organization is anti-Capitalism, it is always the case that Capitalism serves as the foundation of whatever stability exist: Black markets arise, which keep people alive when such a society devolves inevitably into dysfunctional bread lines.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 22 2018, @05:58PM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 22 2018, @05:58PM (#656742) Journal

    simply because people think that your heritage and your benefit from the existing system implies consent

    I wouldn't call that thinking. Words have meaning. "Social contract" is a dishonest term.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @06:50PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @06:50PM (#656780)

      You're an idiot who benefits from social contracts every day. You can wish for utopia all you want but since you are incapable of comprehending basic human society you're gonna have a tough time of it.

      • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday March 23 2018, @02:26AM

        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday March 23 2018, @02:26AM (#656987) Journal

        The word you're looking for here is "sociopath." Though I'm sure he'd prefer "libertarian." The fundamental fallacy of libertarianism is that they think they exist in vacuum, and have no understanding of things like history, culture, idea diffusion, ancestral memory etc. It's completely at odds with reality, but it takes some effort to observe that reality in the first place, which means it's unfortunately probably one of those cognitive shortcuts people like to take...

        --
        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
  • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday March 22 2018, @06:48PM

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Thursday March 22 2018, @06:48PM (#656778) Journal

    when in Rome, you consent to are forced into doing as the Romans do.

    FTFY

    Not even saying it's all that bad. But the mindset that labels everything "consent" is disingenuous in the extreme.

    For instance, I'm happy (IOW, I do in fact consent) to pay for a portion of the healthcare of our citizens and immigrants. Likewise, insofar far as gasoline taxes go towards roads and the maintenance thereof, I am perfectly happy to pay them. And when my taxes go towards education, scientific research, GPS, public transport, etc., etc., I consider that all good.

    But OTOH, I am extremely unhappy to pay for almost all the various military actions we're involved with, as well as military bases anywhere but here; anything at all to do with the war on personal/consensual informed adult choice; any undertaking whatsoever counter to the plain-English intent of the constitution as presently amended; and only do so because I am forced to do so. If the force were removed, I would stop doing so immediately.

    There's that whole bit about religion being given a free tax ride, too – that's extremely galling on several levels.

    And to describe all this as a "social contract" – that's utterly disingenuous bullshit. It's the strong forcing the weak to comply through threat of (and actual imposition of, if you don't comply) violence. No more, no less. The reasons may or may not be good; compliance may or may not be with good will; but there is always the threat of the centurions, ready to make sure you bloody well do comply.