Germany considers 10% tax on online platforms Google, Facebook

The tax is intended to address the situation where technology giants do billions of dollars of business in Germany with very high profit margins, but pay too little tax and invest inadequately back into society.

German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer said the country is considering imposing a 10% tax on large online platforms such as Google (owned by Alphabet) and Facebook (owned by Meta Platforms).

If implemented, the move could further complicate trade relations between Germany and the administration of US President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Stern magazine (Germany) published on May 29, Minister Wolfram Weimer said he was drafting a law on applying a 10% tax rate on revenue from digital services of the above platforms.

According to Minister Weimer, Germany's ruling coalition has agreed on this issue since the beginning of the year and the application of the above tax rate aims to overcome the situation where technology "giants" do business for billions of dollars in Germany with very high profit margins, but pay too little tax and invest back into society not commensurately.

Other countries that have previously imposed similar taxes include the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Türkiye, India, Austria and Canada.

During Donald Trump's first term as President, the Office of the US Trade Representative launched a Section 301 investigation into unfair trade practices by several countries, paving the way for tariffs on certain imports into the US.

In February, President Trump ordered the investigation to be revived, with one goal being to impose import tariffs on countries that impose digital services taxes on US technology companies.

News of the German proposal comes as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to soon travel to the US to meet with President Trump, although the trip has not been officially announced.

Currently, both Alphabet and Meta have not commented./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/duc-xem-xet-danh-thue-10-voi-nen-tang-truc-tuyen-google-facebook-post1041509.vnp