Keeping an eye on Silicon Valley: RT’s Boom Bust explores Big Tech tricks to minimize tax bills

20 Nov, 2019 11:32 / Updated 4 years ago

A number of European countries have been lately pushing their own digital taxes for tech giants. The Czech Republic is now seeking to introduce a seven percent digital sales tax.

RT’s Boom Bust and Hilary Fordwich of the British-American Business Association talk about Europe’s tech tax proposals.The practice of the Big Tech to shift their profits around the world in order to minimize tax bills is “so common that it’s actually known as a double Irish Dutch sandwich,” she says.

Fordwich takes as an example Google, which is paying 26 percent taxes worldwide as a result of using such a scheme. The practice of taxing offshore royalty accounts results in a single digit rate, while small and mid-size companies are paying 50 percent, she says.

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