In July, the UK’s digital services tax (DST) became law after receiving royal assent. The 2 percent tax applies to revenues from social media platforms, internet search engines, and online marketplaces. When developing tax policy, lawmakers often ignore the incidence of a tax, or who actually pays the tax. Many times, this is different from […]
Today the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced new tariffs in response to the French digital services tax. The tariffs of 25 percent on $1.3 billion worth of trade would not go into effect until January 6, 2021. The tariffs would apply to several make-up products, handbags, and assorted soaps. In January, the U.S. and France […]
The following comments were submitted to the Office of the United States Trade Representative regarding docket number USTR-2019-0009. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the Section 301 Investigation. These comments summarize the discriminatory nature of Digital Services Taxes (DSTs) which arise from their design. These comments also provide some details on the policies […]
The growth of the digital economy over the last several decades has raised important questions about how to tax corporations that no longer need a physical presence in a country to turn a profit there. For months, countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have been working towards a multilateral solution to this challenge, […]