Within the next fortnight, the European Commission is to present a communication listing all possible options to tax the Internet giants, the Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Taxation, Pierre Moscovici, explained on Friday 15 September, at the informal meeting of the European finance ministers in Tallinn.
The plan is to present the communication ahead of the informal summit on digital that will bring the heads of state or government together in Tallinn on Friday 29th September. He said that once the member states have made their preferences known, the Commission will be able to move to a proposal. This may entail taxing turnover, as France has proposed, but there are other options as well, he went on to explain.
The launch of an impact study could be the next initiative on this dossier, ahead of a legislative proposal by the end of 2018.
Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, has announced that Bulgaria, Austria, Greece and Slovenia have got behind the initiative launched last week by four countries (France with Germany, Spain and Italy) (see EUROPE 11859). Poland is also reported to be in favour of it, but was unwilling to sign the letter of the four countries, as it makes reference to the common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB), of which it is a staunch opponent. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)