Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

  1. #1
    HEXUS.admin
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    31,709
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    2,073 times in 719 posts

    France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    "France is sovereign, and France decides its own tax rules," finance minister signals to USA.
    Read more.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    3,895
    Thanks
    935
    Thanked
    971 times in 717 posts

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Well, frankly, and at leadt on this issue ... Vive La France.

    About hleeping time, and why aren't we doing it?

    If Trump diesn't like it, pull yer finger out and get international agreement by the utterly hopeless international ability to get fair taxation on these massive companies using tax laws to heavily mitigate taxes from fair, to minimal.

    Note: I blame national givernments, not the FANG(AM) et.al. for having tax rules/laws (and the out of date double-tax treaties) that allow this sort of tax manipulation, not the companies for following the law. Which is exactly why I say Vive La France.

    Oh, and re: Trump's rhetoric ....
    Quote Originally Posted by France's Finance Minister
    France is sovereign, and France decides its own tax rules. And this will continue to be the case,
    Indeed. And may the rest of the EU, including us, do likewise. Don't leave France hanging in the wind on their own.

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    14
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Amazon want pay the tax, it will be the people buying from Amazon.

  4. #4
    Now 100% Apple free cheesemp's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Near the New forest
    Posts
    2,948
    Thanks
    354
    Thanked
    255 times in 173 posts
    • cheesemp's system
      • Motherboard:
      • ASUS TUF x570-plus
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 3600
      • Memory:
      • 16gb Corsair RGB ram
      • Storage:
      • 256Gb NVMe + 500Gb TcSunbow SDD (cheap for games only)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • RX 480 8Gb Nitro+ OC (with auto OC to above 580 speeds!)
      • PSU:
      • Cooler Master MWE 750 bronze
      • Case:
      • Gamemax f15m
      • Operating System:
      • Win 11
      • Monitor(s):
      • 32" QHD AOC Q3279VWF
      • Internet:
      • FTTC ~35Mb

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Agreed Saracen999. No idea why Trumps that bothered. Its not as if this cash ever makes it to the US tax coffers. Most of it just ends up in the Cayman Island or some other tax haven. Hope we do the same.
    Trust

    Laptop : Dell Inspiron 1545 with Ryzen 5500u, 16gb and 256 NVMe, Windows 11.

  5. #5
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    31,023
    Thanks
    1,870
    Thanked
    3,381 times in 2,718 posts
    • kalniel's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra
      • CPU:
      • Intel i9 9900k
      • Memory:
      • 32GB DDR4 3200 CL16
      • Storage:
      • 1TB Samsung 970Evo+ NVMe
      • Graphics card(s):
      • nVidia GTX 1060 6GB
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic 600W
      • Case:
      • Cooler Master HAF 912
      • Operating System:
      • Win 10 Pro x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell S2721DGF
      • Internet:
      • rubbish

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    France is sovereign, and France decides its own tax rules.
    Frexit anyone?

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    3,895
    Thanks
    935
    Thanked
    971 times in 717 posts

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Quote Originally Posted by kalniel View Post
    Frexit anyone?
    Gut reaction? Oh God, no. One is bad enough.

    2nd Reaction? France? Not a chance.

    3rd Reaction? The French finance minister's "sovereignty" makes the point - this is a national government "competence", not an EU one. Not yet, anyway. So individual governments of EU states, or even European states could work in harmony to do this, but it isn't an EU issue. Yet.

  7. #7
    MCRN Tachi Ttaskmaster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Reading, UK
    Posts
    6,917
    Thanks
    673
    Thanked
    806 times in 668 posts
    • Ttaskmaster's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Aorus Master X670E
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 7800X3D
      • Memory:
      • 32GB Corsair Dominator DDR5 6000MHz
      • Storage:
      • Samsung Evo 120GB and Seagate Baracuda 2TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Aorus Master 4090
      • PSU:
      • EVGA Supernova G2 1000W
      • Case:
      • Lian Li V3000 Plus
      • Operating System:
      • Win11
      • Monitor(s):
      • Gigabyte M32U
      • Internet:
      • 900Mbps Gigaclear WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Quote Originally Posted by tparmenter View Post
    Amazon want pay the tax, it will be the people buying from Amazon.
    Ahem... I think you'll find that's "L'amazon"... it's French, you know!!

    Hurrah for France and yah-boo-sucks to you, Trumpy!!
    _______________________________________________________________________
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Tyson
    like a chihuahua urinating on a towering inferno...

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Posts
    260
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    7 times in 6 posts

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    stupid.

  9. #9
    The late but legendary peterb - Onward and Upward peterb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Looking down & checking on swearing
    Posts
    19,378
    Thanks
    2,892
    Thanked
    3,403 times in 2,693 posts

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Quote Originally Posted by will19565 View Post
    stupid.
    France, - Amazon or Google - and why?


    Quote Originally Posted by tparmenter View Post
    Amazon want pay the tax, it will be the people buying from Amazon.
    Amazon have some choicees:

    They could ignore it, but that would probably lead to a court case and a large fine.

    They can psss the costs onto the customer - the amount would be fairly Small given the size of their customer base.

    They could pass the cost on to French customers only, but that could be seen as discrimiory and incur the wrath of the European Commission. It might make them less competitive.

    They could choose to absorb the cost out of their profit margin

    They could just stop trading in France, and refuse to ship products ordered through one of their other websites to a French address.

    Most of those options will affect customers (unless they absorb the cost) although not necessarily financially.
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

    Been helped or just 'Like' a post? Use the Thanks button!
    My broadband speed - 750 Meganibbles/minute

  10. #10
    I'm special azrael-'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Aarhus, Denmark
    Posts
    1,074
    Thanks
    67
    Thanked
    113 times in 92 posts
    • azrael-'s system
      • Motherboard:
      • ASUS Prime X470-Pro
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
      • Memory:
      • 64 GB ECC DDR4 2666 MHz (Samsung M391A2K43BB1-CTD)
      • Storage:
      • 1 TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 1 TB Samsung 850 EVO, 12 TB WD HDDs
      • Graphics card(s):
      • eVGA GTX 1080 SC Gaming, 8 GB
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic X-Series 560W
      • Case:
      • Corsair Obsidian 550D
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Acer Predator XB271HU
      • Internet:
      • VDSL 55/12 Mbit/s

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Quote Originally Posted by tparmenter View Post
    Amazon want pay the tax, it will be the people buying from Amazon.
    That is *exactly* the point. If anyone thinks, for even one second, that Amazon, Google etc. will pay this tax out of their own pockets they're sorely mistaken. This will get dumped right on the customer ...as always.

    As it stands, every customer, regardless if they live in France or not, will probably "help finance" said tax. It's just easier that way.

    But hey... it makes a great news bite and photo op.

  11. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    4,932
    Thanks
    171
    Thanked
    383 times in 310 posts
    • badass's system
      • Motherboard:
      • ASUS P8Z77-m pro
      • CPU:
      • Core i5 3570K
      • Memory:
      • 32GB
      • Storage:
      • 1TB Samsung 850 EVO, 2TB WD Green
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Radeon RX 580
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX520W
      • Case:
      • Silverstone SG02-F
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 X64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Del U2311, LG226WTQ
      • Internet:
      • 80/20 FTTC

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Quote Originally Posted by tparmenter View Post
    Amazon want pay the tax, it will be the people buying from Amazon.
    Quote Originally Posted by azrael- View Post
    That is *exactly* the point. If anyone thinks, for even one second, that Amazon, Google etc. will pay this tax out of their own pockets they're sorely mistaken. This will get dumped right on the customer ...as always.

    As it stands, every customer, regardless if they live in France or not, will probably "help finance" said tax. It's just easier that way.

    But hey... it makes a great news bite and photo op.
    I think you're both kind of missing the point. Yes, in all likelihood that since this is a tax on sales, they will simply add it to the price of products sold. Much like VAT is added in the UK. That is what is desired. Amazon have an unfair advantage over domestic companies with their international tax arrangements allowing them to sell products at the same price and make more net profit or to sell products at a lower price and make the same net profit. Simply slapping a 3% tax on all of their french sales goes some way to leveling the playing field. This isn't about making things cheaper and/or more fair for consumers. It's about making competition between Amazon and French companies more level.

    It's not a perfect solution but there is no perfect solution. Personally I think it's a good start.
    "In a perfect world... spammers would get caught, go to jail, and share a cell with many men who have enlarged their penises, taken Viagra and are looking for a new relationship."

  12. Received thanks from:

    Pleiades (12-07-2019)

  13. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    3,895
    Thanks
    935
    Thanked
    971 times in 717 posts

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Quote Originally Posted by badass View Post
    I think you're both kind of missing the point. Yes, in all likelihood that since this is a tax on sales, they will simply add it to the price of products sold. Much like VAT is added in the UK. That is what is desired. Amazon have an unfair advantage over domestic companies with their international tax arrangements allowing them to sell products at the same price and make more net profit or to sell products at a lower price and make the same net profit. Simply slapping a 3% tax on all of their french sales goes some way to leveling the playing field. This isn't about making things cheaper and/or more fair for consumers. It's about making competition between Amazon and French companies more level.

    It's not a perfect solution but there is no perfect solution. Personally I think it's a good start.
    I'm not convinced it is about competition with French companies at all. Which french company is competing with Google, Netflix, Facebook, etc?

    I think what it's about is that tech-sector giants are seen, correctly, as not bearing their fair share of the burden of taxation compared to other sectors, not to each other.

    It's about fairness at a fundamental level, not about competitiveness and, to be blunt, not about whether it puts up consumer prices.

    The state has to provide all sorts of services, from warships to dustcarts, and someone has to pay for it. And ultimately, whatever the mechanism, that means people, citizens, consumers .... which are all pretty much the same thing.

    I saw one set of figures suggesting that the overall tax burden on companies in France is about 23%, but inside the giants in the tech sector, it's more like 8% or 9%. And that is the unfairness - that unlike everybody else in the business world, tech giants are operating in France (like here) and not making a "fair" contribution towards the cost of government providing services to those same citizens the FANG's are making huge profits from.

    Will consumer prices go up? Will competitive pressures keep the steady and force the FANG's to finance this?

    I don't think government cares.

    What they care about is getting their fair slice because that is what pays for services. Will consumers eat price rises? Probably. But they already do in just about every other sector, so why not the tech giants?

    If consumers object to resultant price rises, it brings up to a long-standing political conundrum ..... most people want Rolls Royce public services, but don't want to pay for them. The world doesn't work like that.
    Last edited by Saracen999; 15-07-2019 at 11:37 PM. Reason: Tpyo's

  14. #13
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Posts
    87
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked
    16 times in 12 posts

    Re: France will levy 3 per cent digital tax on likes of Amazon, Google

    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen999 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by badass View Post
    I think you're both kind of missing the point. Yes, in all likelihood that since this is a tax on sales, they will simply add it to the price of products sold. Much like VAT is added in the UK. That is what is desired. Amazon have an unfair advantage over domestic companies with their international tax arrangements allowing them to sell products at the same price and make more net profit or to sell products at a lower price and make the same net profit. Simply slapping a 3% tax on all of their french sales goes some way to leveling the playing field. This isn't about making things cheaper and/or more fair for consumers. It's about making competition between Amazon and French companies more level.

    It's not a perfect solution but there is no perfect solution. Personally I think it's a good start.
    I'm nit convinced it is about competition with Ffrench comoanies at all. Which frebch company is competing with Google, Netflix, Facebook, etc?

    I think what it's about is that tech-sector giants are seen, correctly, as not bearing their fair share of the burden of taxation compared tovother sectors, not yo each other.

    It's about fairness at a fundamental level, not about competitiveness and, to be blunt, not about whether it puts up consumer prices.

    The state has to provide all sorts of services, from warships to dustcarts, and someone has to pay for it. And ultimately, whatever the mechanism, that means people, citizens, consumers .... which are all pretty much the same thing.

    I saw one set of figures suggesting that the overall tax burden on companies in France is about 23%, but inside the giants in the tech sector, it's more like 8% or 9%. And that is the unfairness - that unlike everybody else in the business world, tech giants are operating in France (like here) and not making a "fair" contribution towards the cost if government providing services to those sane citizens the FANG's are making huge profits from.

    Will consumer prices go up? Will competitive pressures keep the steady and force the FANG's to finance this?

    I don't think government cares.

    What they care about is getting their fair slice because that is what pays for services. Will consumers eat price rises? Probably. But they already do in just about every other sector, so why not the tech giants?

    If consumers objec4 to resultant price rises, it brings up to a long-standing political conundrum ..... most people want Rolls Royce public services, but don't want to pay for them. The world doesn't work like that.
    Pretty much this. And to add, it's laughable that the counter point is to say that it's discrimination against American businesses. It isn't. It's discriminating against mega corporations that rake in ten or hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue each year. They try to use language to stir up some kind of national pride and or make themselves out as though they're being victimised. These very same companies who operate cut throat policies, bully and harass each other and other companies with legal and financial claims every single day and who, legally or not (certainly not morally) reduce their tax burden to the absolute minimum.

    Pay their cries no heed for they are undeserving of anything approaching sympathy or empathy. They would harvest your personal and spending data in a second to turn a profit and they don't care one bit if you're alive or dead. You're a data point to them, nothing more or less. Let's get them paying reasonable taxes in every location they operate.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •