I'm not sure of the details of Spain's proposal but something needs to be done really to make taxation more fair. At the moment you get headlines like "Facebook paid just £28m tax after record £1.6bn revenues in UK" because they fiddle it with offshore tax havens while normal UK businesses have to pay more like 30% of their income in tax, not 1.7%.
Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
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Re: Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
#72An honest question - What outcomes would there be if countries like Spain decide one day to impose exorbant taxes, like those totalling $1b annually for Google?
Would it just be cheaper for these companies to pull out? And what international recourse would happen?
Re: Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
#73As a non-economist (amateur or professional), I get the impression that countries are losing their concern of the repercussions of displeasing the USA economically. Is this an accurate interpretation? If so, is it that they're less fearful of reprisals (tariffs?) or that they're less confident in the benefits of cooperation with the USA? Or a mix? Or something else?
Europeans like me like America because they are very vocal about freedom and liberty but we are waking up to the reality that it's all talk. The USA behaves like Russia and China, they spy on foreigners, influence their elections, start unjustified wars for oil and generally have a very low regard for freedom and liberty outside of their soil. USA are not the good guys and Russia and China are not the bad guys they a…
China, perhaps. Russia is in the doldrums.
The 'problem' with China is that it's an ethnostate, or wants to be. So in a practical sense most Westerners are better off fixing their allegiances to the US, for better or worse.
At least then you can be part of the apparatus and not pre-emptively sidelined. I like some aspects of China vs. the US too, but China is for the Chinese, as they say.
Re: Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Spain has very few large technology companies relative to the US. This tax is effectively a tariff on US technology companies operating in Spain, making it no longer an internal affair.
Last time I checked, comapnies are subject to the laws of countries they operate in.
And Spanish companies can enjoy operating under America’s new tariff (law).
Re: Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
#75As a non-economist (amateur or professional), I get the impression that countries are losing their concern of the repercussions of displeasing the USA economically. Is this an accurate interpretation? If so, is it that they're less fearful of reprisals (tariffs?) or that they're less confident in the benefits of cooperation with the USA? Or a mix? Or something else?
Europeans like me like America because they are very vocal about freedom and liberty but we are waking up to the reality that it's all talk. The USA behaves like Russia and China, they spy on foreigners, influence their elections, start unjustified wars for oil and generally have a very low regard for freedom and liberty outside of their soil. USA are not the good guys and Russia and China are not the bad guys they a…
Probably worth keeping in mind that Russian, Chinese, and American people are not their governments. I can't speak for Russia and China, but at least in the USA plenty of people detest their government for all the reasons you've mentioned. Even the "good" years with Obama, people are looking back on that era more cynically than they did at the time.
Re: Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
#76I think taxes is already so high that half of person earnings goes to retards in government. Why do we pay taxes? I know many people that have close to 0 benefits from government. I would propose all governments to make taxes 5% or 10% and remove themselves from governing.
Taxes redistribute wealth from areas of surplus to areas of need. If one lives alone forever in a log cabin one might indeed never need anything from the government.
However, if you need the police to help you, you are already getting something back. If someone else needs the police and the police catch the criminal who would have made you their next target, you are getting a benefit.
Now scale that up to the whole country. If you take part in a society where there is generally law and order — and moreover a society where everyone can read and write and some of them can manage air traffic control, and roads exist and people have the skills to build cars and sell them to you — well now you are taking part in the benefits of a society which would not exist without public spending, paid for with taxes.
Re: Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
#77As a non-economist (amateur or professional), I get the impression that countries are losing their concern of the repercussions of displeasing the USA economically. Is this an accurate interpretation? If so, is it that they're less fearful of reprisals (tariffs?) or that they're less confident in the benefits of cooperation with the USA? Or a mix? Or something else?
Right now I am again in Turkey after a while. Back then(like 5 years ago?), the USA was seen righteous but demanding country and if you go off-limits bad things can happen to you.
Now Turkey acquired Russian made defence system s400 that was supposed to devastate the economy through embargoes. A few years ago a wealthy Iranian businessman living in Turkey was caught laundering billions of dollars through a Turkish state bank, He was well known for his connections in the Erdogan government. This was supposed to devastate the Turkish banking sector, bringing huge huge fines like those that French or British banks paid back in the day. These and many other actions were supposed to make Uncle Sam very angry and punish Erdogan.
Nothing of significance happened. Actually, a year ago Trump plummeted the Turkish lira with few tweets but it was about a prisoner that was kept hostage that created political trouble to Trump.
These days it's not a credible position to say "Erdogan, don't do that it may bring trouble", everyone who advocated this position is now a laughing stock.
Europe seems to be behind the curve on this, they are still afraid to trade with Iran but I think that it will happen. They just need to find a way to do it while helping with the presidents career, it worked marvellously with Erdogan. Sometimes I think Erdogan has Jedi superpowers over Trump, it was amazing how He and Trump entered Syria despite of Pentagon and the US allies.
Anyway, times are changing. I hope after the change we plateau in a nice position, I would not be thrilled to see Chinese or Russian style governments be the new de facto way of how the world works. The liberal waster world order was nice(though not perfect) when we had it, I dislike the current trends.
Re: Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
#78Re: Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
#79An honest question - What outcomes would there be if countries like Spain decide one day to impose exorbant taxes, like those totalling $1b annually for Google? Would it just be cheaper for these companies to pull out? And what international recourse would happen?
Only when the taxes reduce their profits to zero. As long as a country only taxes domestic revenue, that's unlikely to happen.
And in my opinion, countries should be taxing (domestic revenue - domestic costs), rather than allowing companies to move their undeclared profits around to the nearest tax haven to dodge all taxes.
Re: Spain planning on going ahead with ‘Google tax’ despite US tariff threats
#80I'm not sure of the details of Spain's proposal but something needs to be done really to make taxation more fair. At the moment you get headlines like "Facebook paid just £28m tax after record £1.6bn revenues in UK" because they fiddle it with offshore tax havens while normal UK businesses have to pay more like 30% of their income in tax, not 1.7%.
I recommend reading beyond headlines to understand the world.