End the Abuse of Technology

The so-called new economy, based on the spectacular technological developments that have taken place over the past two decades due to globalization, remains unaccompanied by appropriate regulations, especially with regard to taxes. As a result, technology giants are taking advantage of current legal loopholes and complex tax engineering to pay much less in taxes than they should, as measured by their enormous profits. Part of this is caused by the use of tax havens, of course, but also by the Trump administration’s support for these huge American tech companies, an unfair practice according to world trade rules. To date, the internet giants have paid $100 billion less than their share in taxes over the last decade.

It is urgent that we put an end to this scandalous situation once and for all. In the European Union, the lack of consensus is preventing progress in tax harmonization, which is greatly damaging many countries’ public coffers. Hence, France has already unilaterally approved the Google tax, and in Spain, Pedro Sánchez has also backed it. In Google’s case, the company is also continuing to abuse its domination of advertising, so Paris just imposed a fine of $168 million, adding to an endless string of sanctions in Europe. The internet cannot be a jungle ungoverned by the rules of competition.