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.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 23 2018, @03:45AM (2 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 23 2018, @04:40AM (1 child)
The topic was apple workers in Ireland, you said "the EU or worse, the us pay for it" so what do you expect me to think? What magic phrase didni miss here?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 23 2018, @05:58AM
Um, that was never true. The story itself is about generic online companies paying a "turnover" tax in the EU. Nothing about Apple workers in Ireland though presumably they'd be affected one way or another. In the entire discussion prior to my post, 96 comments at the time, Ireland has only been mentioned three times, including your post above. That indicates Irish Apple workers were never the topic.
My post which you quoted about was in response to the alleged advantages of public spending in health care to Apple. I pointed out that any such benefit, should it actually exist, could be better paid for by Apple than through the government channels of the EU or even worse the US (which you agreed was indeed worse). That's it. I'm not making some sophisticated tie-in to the turnover tax of the story or to Irish workers.