Economics

Europe's going the wrong way on taxing tech

Bloomberg View columnist Leonid Bershidsky looks at the implications of the European Commission's proposal for tech companies to be taxed directly on their revenue rather than profit.

22.09.2017

Bloomberg View columnist Leonid Bershidsky looks at the implications of the European Commission's proposal for tech companies to be taxed directly on their revenue rather than profit.

The European Commission on Tuesday tentatively opened the door to a plan by 10 member states, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, to hit multinational tech companies with a turnover tax to compensate for their avoidance schemes. A new proposal presented by European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis allows for such stop-gap measures while it works with members states on a better, more permanent solution. It's a mistake: A bad tax is a bad tax, temporary or permanent.