Following in the footsteps of France,… Italy is going to impose a digital tax on global tech companies.
The move is likely to rile the United States, which has been already responding to such measures with retaliatory tariffs.
Yoon Jung-min has the details.
Italy will follow France’s suit when it comes to imposing taxes on global IT giants,… which will be unwelcome news for the U.S.
The Italian parliament passed the digital tax into law this week,… imposing a three percent levy on revenue for companies that earn more than 7-hundred-50 million euros, and at least 5-point-5 million euros in Italy.
The new tax,… which takes effect New Year’s Day, only targets business-to-business transactions, including advertising or cloud computing services.
Some European countries have been complaining that American tech companies pay too little in tax in countries where they have users.
Italy’s parliament passed the digital tax last year as well, but put off its implementation to wait and see if there would be uniform taxation by the OECD or EU.
The move, however, is likely to trigger backlash from the U.S.,… which has been criticizing France for its own digital tax on IT giants.
Washington insists the tax targets American tech firms… such as Facebook, Google and Apple.
In response, the Trump administration said it’s going to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on French wine, cheese and handbags.
It has also warned of similar retaliation against Italy.
France, for its part, has threatened to bring the case to the WTO once the U.S. imposes its retaliatory taxes.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.
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