Proposition de loi relative à la création d'une taxe provisoire (TSN) portant sur les produits générés par certaines activités des géants du numérique.
General information ¶
- Authors
-
CD&V
Eric
Van Rompuy
LE Benoît Dispa, Vanessa Matz
MR Olivier Maingain - Submission date
- Jan. 23, 2019
- Official page
- Visit
- Status
- Rejected
- Requirement
- Simple
- Subjects
- digital technology electronic commerce tax law Internet multinational enterprise corporation tax
Voting ¶
- Voted to adopt
- Open Vld N-VA MR
- Voted to reject
- Groen Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP DéFI PVDA | PTB PP
- Abstained from voting
- CD&V ∉ VB
Party dissidents ¶
- Peter Luykx (CD&V) voted to adopt.
- Veli Yüksel (CD&V) voted to adopt.
- Olivier Maingain (MR) voted to reject.
Contact form ¶
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Discussion ¶
March 28, 2019 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)
Full source
Vanessa Matz LE ⚙
Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, a little more than fifteen days have passed since the Finance Committee and the rejection of this important proposal that called for taxing GAFA. If I submit it again tonight, it’s because I hope for a healthy outbreak for three reasons.
The first reason is for greater tax justice. When it is known that currently GAFAs pay on average 9% of taxes in Europe and that a so-called classical company pays 24%, there is tax inequality. At a time when citizens demand more tax justice, we have here a lever to allow for fair taxation that is far from totally fair taxation, since it is a 3% tax on GAFA that we demand. We are still far from counting.
Certainly, the most relevant level is the European level for taxation, but in the face of the Ecofin failure to agree on a tax on GAFA, several European states have taken concrete initiatives on the subject: France, Austria, Italy and Spain. Why not Belgium?
The second reason why voting on this tax would be healthy is to fight against the unfair competition that the GAFA currently leads towards small digital enterprises that do not have the means to resist this unfair competition because they are subject to an average 24% tax in Europe.
The third reason why this tax should be voted tonight is that, contrary to popular ideas, digital giants have a colossal ecological footprint. Some experts place it at the level of aviation. When you want means to accompany the energy transition, here is a pocket that could serve as a social and human accompanying of this taxation.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to ask you for a jump. It is known that this text is a draft directive that was submitted by Ecofin and that it has legally validated. It aims to tax the economic activities of these GAFAs. This is not a relocalizable profit to countries playing tax competition at will, but rather activities that are valuable in Belgium.
If other European countries start taxing GAFA, why not Belgium? It has always been a pioneer in reforms. Currently, at European level, this blocks because unanimousness is required for tax issues. We demand that in Belgium we can take a step towards more tax justice, to support our ⁇ and to finance the ecological transition in a just way.
This is why I ask you tonight to reflect again on the vote that took place more than 15 days ago in the committee. I am addressing in particular two political groups: the CD&V who co-signed the bill and the MR who, I am sure, has the heart to defend the business sector and SMEs. Several companies, via Comeos, have supported this text with the legal provisions and amendments you have desired, namely the fact that it is a provisional tax, that it must align with the thresholds of other states, including France in particular. These are provisions that we have introduced by amendments.
The third amendment introduced concerned the avoidance of double taxation of GAFAs – which seems unlikely in Belgium, given that there is no provision for taxing GAFAs. Thus, they could deduct this tax.
In the name of tax justice, fair competition and the energy transition and its financing, I ask you to subscribe to the taxation of GAFA.