EU’s digital tax aimed at US tech giants

THE European Union (EU) unveiled proposals yesterday for a digital tax that targets US tech giants, heaping more problems on Facebook after revelations over misused data of 50 million users shocked the world.

The special tax is the latest measure by the 28-nation EU to rein in Silicon Valley giants and could further embitter the bad-tempered trade row pitting the EU against US President Donald Trump.

EU Economics Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici presented his proposals in Brussels aimed at recovering billions of euros from mainly US multinationals that shift earnings around Europe to pay lower tax rates.

“This current legal vacuum is creating a serious shortfall in the public revenue of our member states,” France’s Moscovici told a media conference in Brussels.

“This could generate at least ß5-billion (R73-billion) a year if the tax is imposed at 3%.”

Moscovici insisted it was not an anti-GAFA tax nor an anti-US tax, referring to the acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.