6 ms·
Shouldn't be a long inquiry, this tax is textbook discriminatory trade barrier. If you look at EU policy as france and germany protecting their perceived inter
by fyoving 7y ago
Shouldn't be a long inquiry, this tax is textbook discriminatory trade barrier.
If you look at EU policy as france and germany protecting their perceived interests by targeting US tech companies it
starts making sense, I think a rule of thumb there is: "if it hurts google it should be law".
- lm28469 7y ago> by targeting US tech companies It's targeting tech giants, not US companies. "Any digital company with revenue of more than €750m - of which at least €25m is generated in France"
- fyoving 7y agoThat's adorable.
- CogitoCogito 7y agoWhile the law seems clearly to be targeted at US tech giants, why do you say it's discriminatory? > "Any digital company with revenue of more than €750m - of which at least €25m is generated in France" That sounds pretty non-discriminatory.
- nolok 7y ago11 of the 26 companies that fit the criterias are not american to begin with.
- jklepatch 7y agoJust showing your patriotism does not add much value to this thread. If you want to have a meaningful contribution, you should use facts and logical reasoning.
- hef19898 7y agoThe OP provided facts. Now is setting a certain threshold discriminatory, no idea. One interesting data point would be the percentage of US tech giants in total compared to those that fall under the proposed tax. If they are overrepresented it might be discriminatory, if not much less so.
- jklepatch 7y agoNot sure which fact you are referring to. “This is discriminatory ...” is a statememt, not a fact.
- lm28469 7y agoHow do you tax an industry if said industry is majoritarily composed of US companies without it being flagged as discriminatory ? If we look at it the other way it would mean US companies have a free pass.
- JAlexoid 7y agoSo... Spotify and Microsoft are one single industry? That's an interesting definition, buddy. And don;t forget that only the French sourced revenue is taxed.
- lm28469 7y agoMight not be the same industry per say but the sources of revenue overlap. Facebook and Amazon are obviously different services, they both make insane amount of money through ads, most of which escape taxes. The law is directed to companies fitting these criteria: - advertisement (Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Ebay, Google, Groupon, Rakuten, Schibsted, Wish, Zalando.) - sale of personal data (Amadeus, Axel Springer, Booking, Expedia, Match.com, Randstad, Recruit, Sabre, Travelport Worldwide, Tripadvisor, Uber.) - intermediary platforms (Amazon, Criteo, Ebay, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Verizon) Don't forget that most of these companies abuse the system to avoid paying tax in most EU countries, for example airbnb paid something like 70k of tax in 2015 in France (a top google engineer would pay more tax than the whole airbnb business), because the only french based airbnb entity was a sub company which was used as an intermediary between France and Ireland. Of course it's in their interest/right to use as many loopholes as they legally can, but I don't see why France wouldn't update their tax laws to close of few of these loopholes and accommodate these new business model / business practices.
- nolok 7y ago> by targeting US tech companies It does not. In a preliminary evaluation, there are 26 companies that would match the criterias, 11 are not americans, 4 of them (that's 1/6th) are even french companies to begin with. • Vente de biens: Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Ebay, Google, Groupon, Rakuten, Schibsted, Wish, Zalando. • Intermédiaire de services: Amadeus, Axel Springer, Booking, Expedia, Match.com, Randstad, Recruit, Sabre, Travelport Worldwide, Tripadvisor, Uber. • Publicité en ligne: Amazon, Criteo, Ebay, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Verizon. The point is to catch up with something everyone else has figured out: that the value is in the users data. Investors have caught up to it and acted on it, so did VC, so did companies, so did everyone ... Except governments. If the data is what you extract your value from, then it should be normal that it is what you are taxed on.
- fyoving 7y agoIf my math is correct then most of the companies are American, and by far most of the potential revenue. Considering the rhetoric leading to this tax and the french government's many raids and failed investigations into US companies and their taxes it's difficult even with careful wording for the french government to deny the actual target of this tax in a WTO type setting.
- etripe 7y agoMaybe the US should be targeting those companies, too. I don't think you can really say a multinational still is or acts "American", even if a majority of its employees and its owners are.
- JAlexoid 7y agoFor tax purposes most of those companies aren't even American. Apple, Alphabet's subsidiaries, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. are companies registered in Ireland or Luxembourg, or the likes.
- zaarn 7y agoIf Axel Springer is taxed on board. I'd sign the law with my own blood if it brings them into financial ruin. And Criteo too, they're the forgotten Data-kraken of Europe. Just go watch their Marketing Material!
- fulmicoton 7y agoCall it discriminatory if you want. They have been playing the system using different tax evasion schemes. France makes a law to force them to pay their fair due.