The French digital tax project will be implemented this year whether or not there is an international agreement, Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of Economy and Finance, announced on Thursday.
Nearly 140 states are negotiating a new cross-border tax deal under the umbrella of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to adapt it to the digital age, but the coronavirus pandemic has slowed talks and the commitment reaffirmed at the start of the year to reach an international agreement by the end of 2020 seems increasingly difficult to keep.
Bruno Le Maire had repeated several times before the emergence of the health crisis that a digital tax on a European scale would be essential, if the international community did not agree.
In the absence of an agreement, several member states have implemented a national digital tax. France paved the way by introducing its own tax last year, which has earned it threats of commercial reprisals from the United States, which have so far been suspended pending the possible conclusion of an international agreement this year at the OECD. (Leigh Thomas, edited by Jean-Philippe Lefief)