EU: EU plan for digital income tax is shot down

European Union finance ministers failed to agree on a tax on digital income, despite a last-minute plan by Germany and France to save the proposal.

The EU’s executive arm proposed a 3 percent tax on digital firms such as Facebook and Google, saying these companies tend to channel profits to countries with lower taxes.

The collapse of the agreement is a heavy blow for the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his government, which has invested considerable political capital for this tax, Telegraph reports.

Companies that profit from Google and Facebook advertising would be hit hardest by the Franco-German proposal.

The tax requires the support of 28 member countries, including those that offer low taxes such as Ireland, and according to the first proposals, the tax was supposed to enter into force in January 2021.

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