Spain has announced its intention to introduce its own tax on digital companies with a view to funding state pensions. “The idea is to introduce it as soon as possible and for it to take effect from 2019 onwards,” said economy minister Ramon Escolano at a news conference, according to Reuters. “From the perspective of fairness and social justice, it doesn’t make sense that taxes should be levelled solely on the old economy,” he added.
Spain is one of the strongest backers of the European Commission’s proposal to impose a new revenue tax on digital service providers such as Google and Facebook but Escolano said the Spanish treasury has already begun working on the precise terms of its own levy. El Pais reported that the government expects to raise EUR 2.1 billion by 2019 via the tax on certain electronic transactions in the country, part funding the EUR 3.7 billion needed for pension hikes of 1.6 percent this year and 1.5 percent in 2019.
