Slovakia to crackdown on tax loopholes for Google, FB

by   CIJ iDesk I
2018-01-15   09:24
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Slovakia's finance minister Peter Kažimír may start showing up in Google searches more often in the coming days, but it won't be because the Internet giant is his biggest fan. Instead, he's upset that the media company made €1.3m last year but allegedly paid just €50,000 in taxes. Kažimír is now working on a plan to limite giants like Google and Facebook from using tax loopholes to get away with paying taxes at little better than symbolic rates. "We want to join a progressive group of companies that's approaching the question with open eyes," he said, according to the Slovak daily Hospodárské noviny, referring to Germany, France and Italy. IAB Slovakia estimates that 60 percent of all digital advertising revenues are controlled by the two companies. It's estimated that Facebook and Google avoided €5.4bn in taxes between 2013 and 2015.