Spain will press ahead with the creation of a tax on certain digital services as soon as a government is formed, according to sources from the caretaker executive. This so-called “Google tax” could, however, raise the ire of the United States, which has already threatened France with reprisals over a similar levy.
Sources from the Finance Ministry said that the ultimate decision to go ahead with the tax will lie with the next Spanish government, which is likely to be a coalition administration led by the Socialist Party (PSOE) with left-wing Unidas Podemos as partners. The measure was included in the PSOE’s manifesto ahead of the November 10 election, and the caretaker finance minister, María Jesús Montero, has often spoken in the past of the need to create a tax of this kind in order to bring the Spanish fiscal system up to date with the realities of the 21st century.
The previous PSOE administration had already included such a tax in an agreement it reached in October 2018 with Podemos ahead of its failed attempt to pass the 2019 budget. The former Cabinet of then-Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez approved a royal decree that would have seen new levies on certain digital services, which became known as the “Google tax,” and which aimed to collect around €850 million for the state’s coffers. The legislation was sent to Congress for approval, but it was abandoned after parliament was dissolved ahead of the recent general election.
Sources close to the caretaker finance minister pointed out that the planned Spanish legislation does not target companies according to their country of origin, and argued that the ideal approach would be for such measures to be approved on a joint basis across either European Union (EU) or OECD countries. But there are no plans for this to happen before the end of 2020 at the earliest. That is why countries such as France have already come up with their own regulations, which has in turn prompted a response from Washington. After US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100% on French products, on Monday the EU closed ranks, announcing that it would respond “united” to a measure of this kind.
