Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Do we make the word a better place of we cause the destruction of many life-style businesses that provide jobs, a public service, and aren't rapacious and create an environment where only the most aggressive and profitable companies can survive at all, but you get to exact a 3% tax on them? The 3% tax isn't being implemented because it's the best system. It's being done because tech giants have consistently weaseled…
> The 3% tax isn't being implemented because it's the best system. It's being done because tech giants have consistently weaseled their way around the normal way of taxing businesses by fiddling with transfer prices and corrupting governments. No, they admit it's not the best system, that's why they claim it is short-term only. The best system would be an international treaty to harmonize corporate taxes. >Are you al…
"No" to what? You're just agreeing with what I said. An international treaty would be a much better solution but we're dealing with companies that have already corrupted several European governments, let's not pretend getting something as grandiose as that passed wouldn't be extremely hard.
>I'm arguing you should be taxed for the actual business you do. If I make a dollar because I sold an ad to a local company in the EU because they wanted to reach a customer in the EU, fine. That's a rational tax law. It's not rational to tax for business done elsewhere, sold to people elsewhere, for customers elsewhere, to be counted. Spotify is an EU company, do you think the US should tax them based on global European subscriber revenue?
Other people have already explained that this is not what is on the table. The proposal is to tax at 3% the percentage of the revenues that pertain to EU users, not users elsewhere.
>Really? How would they do that. It's easy to block purchasing physical goods online and have customs block it. How do you block virtual goods? Block payment processing systems? Foreign bank transfers? Bitcoin? Does the EU prosecute a local business for buying ads on Google or Facebook using a foreign bank account?
Yes to all your questions. And the fact that this is escalating is exactly why you should be in favor of proposals to quickly end this exploitation of tax laws by tech giants. Otherwise the internet as we know it is in danger.