A “Google tax” passed by the Assembly – The Figaro

The national Assembly voted Thursday on a revised version of the “Google tax” in the French-proposed by the socialist Yann Galut and sustained by elected representatives of several left-wing groups, the government is showing a very reserved but not frontally opposite.

Inspired by the tax on the profits diverted (nicknamed the “Google Tax”) introduced in the United Kingdom and Australia but also of the recommendations of the OECD plan on BEPS), this includes the profits of multinationals on the activity in France, to counter tax optimization through a diversion of profits.

he welcomed the work since the beginning of the quinquennium to allow “one of the laws the most complete and offensive on evasion and tax optimization”, M. Galut, ex-speaker of the law reinforcing the fight against tax fraud, has called to make “a big step, added” to fill “some holes in the racket”.

The aim is to counter price of transfers between subsidiaries devoid of economic substance, or timelines by which foreign companies avoid to declare a permanent establishment in France (examples of Amazon and the warehouses, platforms of relationship between electronic products or services such as Airbnb, Uber, etc).

In a long speech on “a sensitive issue, and in the interest of all our citizens”, the secretary of State for the Budget Christian Eckert, defended “a device much more efficient as there is sometimes a feeling”, and which has already led to “big adjustments” to tax the corporate income tax, with penalties and without the “no negotiation” in contrast to some countries, like the Uk or Italy.

The secretary of State for the Budget has also mentioned, without breaking the secrecy of tax, judicial proceedings, certain “publicly” with an allusion to Google France, the other “not always known to the general public”.

Preferring the withdrawal of a measure that “provides only very exceptionally, an answer to the holes in the racket but “does not”, Mr. Eckert has slipped that in the case of adoption, the government intended to “rework” later.