An alliance of Ireland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden have blocked an EU proposal to impose a tax on digital sales, reports the Irish Times.
The European Commission (EC) has proposed imposing a 3 percent tax on EU-based digital sales of multi-national businesses, effective from 2022. With this tax payable where the user is based, Ireland was concerned it would lose significant tax revenue and led work to build support against the proposals.
At a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on 28 November, these countries raised technical and principled objections to the plans. According to sources, Germany said it would only support the plans if OECD efforts to address the taxation of digital companies failed. The OECD is expected to publish draft proposals in 2019, followed by final proposals a year later. Their opposition to the EU plans means they are now effectively stalled.
