Europeans vow to pursue digital tax plans after US “provocation” • Hacker News Board

Re: Europeans vow to pursue digital tax plans after US “provocation”

#71

Post by catalogia » Sat, Jun 20, 2020, 3:08 PM UTC

paulsutter wrote: post #64

catalogia wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Russia were so inclined (I don't think they are and don't see why they would be) they could turn the Island of Taiwan into a pile of gravel on the floor of the China Sea. They have several thousand nuclear warheads with the means to deliver them; more than enough to overwhelm any extant ABM system. For that reason if for no other, I think an American conflict with China is more likely than a conflict with Russia.…

There no motive for Russia to do that. This Russia obsession is bizarre

Yes, I agree.

Re: Europeans vow to pursue digital tax plans after US “provocation”

#72

Post by Mirioron » Sat, Jun 20, 2020, 6:39 PM UTC

boudin wrote: post #67

Mirioron wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they already do contribute to those countries. This is simply protectionism plus at work. Squeeze more money out of foreign companies operating locally, because you can. It'll just lead to the world becoming clustered again like before. We're already seeing it happening with the internet - China is already apart from the rest of the world. Russia has been testing the same thing. Europe is essentially trying to is…

This is just not true. Google for example routes the profit it makes in France to other countries to avoid paying taxes. That's where the current tax systen doesn't work and a new one is needed.

Yes, they avoid paying some French corporate taxes. The French have been fully aware of this for decades. Even if they somehow missed everything else, the Lisbon Treaty was rejected by the Irish until they got assurances from the EU that it won't affect taxation. Part of the reason the EU exists in the form it does is due to this taxation.

Re: Europeans vow to pursue digital tax plans after US “provocation”

#73

Post by simonblack » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 12:00 AM UTC

laser wrote: post #18

From a purely national interest standpoint, it's hardly surprising the US would be uninterested in negotiations given the fact it's the global digital products leader. While it's certainly true some such rules are worthwhile at the minimum tax level to stop global mega-corps avoiding taxes, like the old Double Irish loophole [1], the negotiations didn't break down over such provision, as the article mentions. The neg…

From a purely national interest standpoint, it's hardly surprising the US would be uninterested in negotiations given the fact it's the global digital products leader.

A time will come when the US is not the global digital products leader. I surmise that the US will then be very much in favor of digital taxes.

Re: Europeans vow to pursue digital tax plans after US “provocation”

#74

Post by ijpsud » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 12:37 PM UTC

Mirioron wrote: post #45

laser wrote: post #18

From a purely national interest standpoint, it's hardly surprising the US would be uninterested in negotiations given the fact it's the global digital products leader. While it's certainly true some such rules are worthwhile at the minimum tax level to stop global mega-corps avoiding taxes, like the old Double Irish loophole [1], the negotiations didn't break down over such provision, as the article mentions. The neg…

The worst part about taxes like this is that they make it even harder for Europe to ever catch up. Taxes like this will make Europe a less attractive location for a business like that. Investors will be less likely to invest, there's a greater regulatory burden for anyone who does want to start the business, and you will and up paying more in taxes.

> they make it even harder for Europe to ever catch up

You've stated this as a fact, but it's not self-evident. There are obviously cases where some degree of "protectionism" makes sense. For example, you probably wouldn't want to let yourself get into a situation where another country supplies 100% of your food, if you could help it. As an extreme case, if you can produce all your food locally and it only makes your food 1% more expensive (than the tariff-less case), that's very likely a great trade-off.

Some degree of protectionism can make sense in certain circumstances. I'm not claiming it necessarily makes sense in this case (could very well be a terrible idea), but I think you'd need some evidence or reasoning behind the claim that it's definitely a bad thing for Europe.