TAXES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WTO: “A global attempt to prevent large, multinational companies from shifting their profits to lower-tax jurisdictions is setting off a fight between the United States and Europe, as policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic spar over efforts to impose new taxes on foreign firms.
On Wednesday [3-21-18], the European Commission is expected to take aim at Silicon Valley’s tech giants with a proposal to seriously revamp how technology companies are taxed in the 28-nation European Union. The plan, outlined in a draft obtained by The New York Times, would tax digital media companies based on where they generate revenue, rather than where they have their regional headquarters, which are often in countries like Ireland and Luxembourg that have lower tax rates.
The proposal comes in the wake of the new $1.5 trillion tax law that President Trump signed last year, which tried to crack down on profit-shifting by imposing a new minimum tax on the overseas earnings of any companies with United States operations. The international provisions in the United States tax law have angered some European leaders, who say they go too far and may violate World Trade Organization rules.”
–Alan Rappeport, Milan Schreuer and Natasha Singer, “Europe’s Planned Digital Tax Heightens Tensions With U.S.,” The New York Times online, Mar. 19, 2018