The contribution digital tax for US companies: What Donald Trump would really hit by Christian Erxleben first appeared on Basic Thinking. You always stay up to date with our newsletter.
As US President, Donald Trump is no longer just terrorizing the political scene. Since the beginning of his trade war with tariffs against almost all countries in the world, it has also split the economy. A Bavarian minister wants to repel a digital tax. A comment.
How the “Liberation Day” freed the Hydra
With the so-called “Liberation Day”, US President Donald Trump heralded the supposed rescue of the US economy before discriminatory trade relationships. After his speech in the rose garden, which should at least go into economic history, he did not freely freed the United States, but a hydra.
In the basic form, the punitive tariffs imposed are a base custom of ten percent on all import goods. In addition, there are serves. Depending on how unfair – according to Trump, a country behaves towards the United States.
Instead of strengthening his own economy, he ensured that the stock markets were sent on a descent with an economic policy campaign course – and to a historically relevant extent. Everything that has sparked or liberated Trump is the pure fear of the small investors.
Counter tariffs? The problem with the trade deficit
Of course, particularly heavily affected countries such as China or associations such as the European Union (EU) do not simply have the skirmishes of the US President. So many sanctioned countries raise cheerfully. Customs war in three or two, one.
From the perspective of Germany and the EU, the problem is that there is a massive imbalance in favor of the USA, especially in the case of services (e.g. streaming, digital payment, online shopping, digital advertising).
Loud Eurostat the trade deficit for digital services amounts to almost 110 billion euros. For comparison: for goods such as cars or medical devices, the EU generates an excess of almost 200 billion euros.
A digital tax as a deterrent measure
The fact that the trade deficit in the area of services is so massive is due to the fact that the large US technology groups earn billions with people from Europe, but almost do not have to tax their profits.
One of the reasons for this is that there is (yet) no Europe -wide digital tax. Before Germany is waiting for the stained EU, Bavaria’s Digital Minister Fabian Mehring beats In a statement by the Bavarian State Ministry of Digitization the introduction of a national digital tax. He says:
We shouldn’t stand by and see how the United States wants to cupping us with high tariffs, while American tech companies make billions in gains in this country and almost do not pay any taxes.
And added:
In view of the planned record debts, the new federal government could strengthen its income by asking tech companies from overseas to the state treasury at least as much as our domestic economy.
Austria as a model
Germany would not be a pioneer. There is also a national digital tax in France and Austria. Austria, for example, charges taxes of five percent of the fees that are paid for any form of online advertising services.
This affects companies that generate at least 750 million euros in sales and 25 million euros in Austria worldwide. In other words, the regulation specifically affects multinational corporations such as Meta, Alphabet or Amazon and also protects Austrian software companies that only earn their money locally.
Digital tax: a solution if there is no solution?
Of course, the introduction of a digital tax is not an idea that Fabian Mehring has exclusively. Nevertheless, she is currently gaining relevance. Because: a digital tax would be much easier to implement than to raise tariffs on digital goods. In addition, she would primarily take the Big Tech advertising revenue-and thus the US economy.
In contrast to tariffs, the disadvantages for consumers in the EU would be low due to digital tax because it would not make products more expensive. For the EU, it would be a means of pressure in negotiations with the United States. However, it should be clear that this trade war is ideally solved diplomatically.
If Donald Trump shows himself unreasonably – and this is not exactly unlikely – from Germany, it is legitimate to tax the sector with which the United States mastered the world: the Internet.
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The contribution digital tax for US companies: What Donald Trump would really hit by Christian Erxleben first appeared on Basic Thinking. Follow us too Google News and Flipboard.
As a tech industry expert, I believe that a digital tax on US companies could have significant implications for the industry. Donald Trump’s focus on taxing these companies could potentially impact their profitability and competitiveness in the global market.
The tech industry relies heavily on digital platforms and services, making them a prime target for digital taxes. If these taxes are implemented, companies may have to adjust their pricing strategies or potentially pass on the additional costs to consumers. This could lead to decreased demand for their products and services, ultimately impacting their bottom line.
Additionally, the implementation of digital taxes could also strain international trade relations and lead to retaliatory measures from other countries. This could result in a trade war that would be detrimental to US tech companies who rely on global markets for their growth and success.
Overall, I believe that implementing digital taxes on US companies could have far-reaching consequences for the tech industry and it is important for policymakers to carefully consider the potential impacts before moving forward with such measures.
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