ECIPE & BDI Seminar: EU Digital Services Tax – The Cost of Fiscal Unilateralism

The EU is proposing a digital services tax (DST) to tax online services and intermediaries. The proposal sets the thresholds in an arbitrary manner that effectively singles out two countries – the United States and China.

BDI (Federation of German Industries) rejects the digital tax proposed by the European Commission. This unilateral action by the EU leads to double taxation of companies and harms German industry, which is currently in the process of digital transformation of its business models. A taxation of profits from digital business models is already given in the existing system.

• Could the EU’s justification for the DST be used to retaliate against EU exports?
• Are the subsidiaries of EU businesses in China and the United States at risk?
• Is the DST potentially a WTO violation?
• Is corporate taxation the next arena for a trade war?