MNI EUROGROUP: French FinMin Says DigiTax Support Growing

By Tara Oakes

     TALLINN (MNI) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday that a

proposal launched with Italy, Germany and Spain to tax revenue on digital giants

is winning support around the bloc.

     "Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, all formally joined our

initiative," Le Marie told journalists on the sidelines of the Ecofin meeting in

Tallinn.

     The new supporters add momentum to the proposal, which would hit digital

companies like Google or Apple on their turnover rather than their profits,

which could be a stickier issue on EU level.

     But a European diplomat familiar with the project said that the current

proposal was more of a quick-fix as it could be easiest to implement, not the

ideal solution.

     "We would prefer to be able to tax the profit," he said. A threshold could

also be introduced so that the tax would hit real giants, rather than smaller

online companies.

     "We believe that starting this way, with an equalization tax then digital

Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base, is in the interest of all," he added.

     If the momentum increases for a functioning pan-EU solution rather than a

patchwork of national, unilateral actions means that it will be in the hands of

the European Commission to come up with workable suggestions on how to make the

tax a reality across member states.

--MNI Brussels Bureau; +44 203-865-3851; email: tara.oakes@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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