France was hoping that such an accord
could be reached by the end of this year,
rendering the French tax moot. But the Trump
administration pulled out of the negotiations,
led by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, and no such
deal is ready yet.
So French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said
that France will again levy the tax. Speaking on
a visit to Italy, he said: “We naturally hope that
the Italian presidency of the G20 will provide
the impetus to reach an agreement within
the OECD, which could be supported by all
European countries, concerning a fair tax on
tech giants.”
A Finance Ministry official said the French
Treasury sent the 2020 tax bills to Amazon,
Google and other companies affected by the
measure last week, and they have to pay by
the end of the year. The ministry expects the
tax revenue to total a bit more than last year
because big tech companies have had a good
year amid the pandemic.
France’s trade minister told The Associated Press
earlier this month that he hopes President-elect
Joe Biden’s administration rejoins discussions at
the OECD for a global deal.
Other European countries have imposed similar
measures, which are aimed at forcing online
giants to pay full taxes in the countries where
they do business instead of in tax havens. U.S.
officials have argued that the taxes unfairly
target successful American companies, though
France says its tax is aimed at all big tech
companies that make money online.