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Taxation of Digital Servieces from International Tax Law Perspective

Publication date: 17.12.2020

Financial Law Review, 2020, Issue 20 (4)/ 2020, pp. 64 - 81

https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834FLR.20.021.13093

Authors

Jozef Sábo
Department of Financial Law, Tax Law, and Economics Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Faculty of Law.
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Titles

Taxation of Digital Servieces from International Tax Law Perspective

Abstract

The article analyses taxes on digital services adopted in the United Kingdom, France, Austria, and Italy. The article tries to identify the architectural features of these taxes that could conflict with obligations according to international tax treaties and EU laws. The article also presents OECD “Unified Approach” which is based on multilateral agreement. The main hypothesis of the article is that this approach represents a better solution for the taxation of digital services than unilateral national taxation of digital services. In the presented analyses, mainly horizontal comparative method, method of logical analysis and synthesis are employed.

References

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Babčák, V.: Daňové parvo na Slovensku a v EU [Tax law in Slovakia and EU], Bratislava: EPOS, 2020.

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Legal Acts

Digital Tax Act 2020.

French digital services tax Law.

Italian Budget Law 2020.

United Kingdom Finance Bill 2020.

Court rulings

Court of Justice of European Union’s ruling in Case C-294/97 Eurowings Luftverkehr [ECLI:EU:C:1999:524].

Court of Justice of European Union’s ruling in Case C‑385/12 Hervis Sport- és Divatkereskedelmi [ECLI:EU:C:2014:47].

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Other official documents

OECD (2015), Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy, Action 1 - 2015 Final Report, OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, OECD Publishing, Paris. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264241046-en, accessed: 10th September 2020.

OECD (2019a), Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital 2017 (Full Version), OECD Publishing, Paris. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1787/g2g972ee-en, accessed: 10th September 2020.

OECD (2019b): OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digitalisation of the Economy Public Consultation Document. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/tax/beps/public-consultation-document-addressing-the-tax-challe nges-of-the-digitalisation-of-the-economy .pdf, accessed: 10th September 2020.

OECD (2019c): Programme of Work to Develop a Consensus Solution to the Tax Challenges Arising from the Digitalisation of the Economy, OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS, OECD, Paris. Available at: www.oecd.org/tax/beps/programme-of-work-to-develop-aconsensus-solution-to-the-tax-challenges-arising-from-the-digitalisation-of-the-economy.htm, accessed: 10th September 2020.

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OECD 2020c: OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS Progress report July 2019 to – July 2020 Available at: http://www.oecd.org/tax/beps/oecd-g20-inclusive-framework-on-beps-progress-report-july-2019-july-2020.pdf, accessed: 10th September 2020.

US 2019: Report on France’s Digital Services Tax Prepared in the Investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 Office of the United States Trade Representative Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer on December 2, 2019 Available at: https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/Report_On_France%27s_Digital_Services_Tax.pdf, accessed: 10th September 2020.

Internet Resources

La web tax italiana: prospettive e problemi [Web tax in Italy: perspectives and problems], Available at: https://osservatoriocpi.unicatt.it/cpi-archivio-studi-e-analisi-la-web-tax-italiana-prospettive-e-problemi, accessed: 10th September 2020.

France agrees to delay new tax on tech giants Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51192369, accessed: 10th September 2020.

Information

Information: Financial Law Review, 2020, Issue 20 (4)/ 2020, pp. 64 - 81

Article type: Original article

Authors

Department of Financial Law, Tax Law, and Economics Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Faculty of Law.

Published at: 17.12.2020

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND  licence icon

Percentage share of authors:

Jozef Sábo (Author) - 100%

Classification number:

JEL Classification System:

Tax Law (K34)

Article corrections:

-

Publication languages:

English