• G7. France pacts with the US to suspend the Google rate
  • Calviño. "The Government does not rule out the Google rate"

The Google rate , one of the instruments with which Pedro Sánchez wants to add revenue if he manages to govern, will end up being paid by the consumer. The American giant Amazon has already announced that it will impact its customers from October on the new tax created in France, very similar to the one tried by the Government of Sanchez in the previous legislature and which ensures that it maintains for the next if the current president in office It manages to be invested.

"After the introduction in France of a new tax on digital services ... we are forced to adjust the rates of our sales on Amazon.fr," the US distribution group said in a statement. An Amazon spokesman in Spain points out to EL MUNDO that, since the Google rate is not yet implemented in the national market, he prefers not to comment on what the giant will do in the same case - "I neither confirm nor deny that it will act as in France "- but it does point out that the company expects that unilateral taxes will not be created in full negotiation of an international agreement within the OECD. "The new taxation must be decided in the OECD," he says.

Other knowledgeable sources assure this newspaper that Amazon's policy will be identical with all European countries that support the so-called French GAFA rate ( Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple ) and that, like the Spanish Government, it sets 3% of taxation on the volume of sales of these technological giants in their territory.

As to why a colossus like Amazon, accused of paying few taxes, does not assume more taxation and has an impact on it, the company refers to Amazon's statement in France. "Since we operate in a very competitive sector with a small commercial margin, and we invest massively in the creation of tools and services for our clients and associated sellers, we are not in a position to absorb an additional tax on our sales volume instead of our benefits, "explains the firm in Paris.

The rate adjustment is made on companies that use the Amazon platform, but the expectation of the US giant is that it will reach the consumer. "Unfortunately, we expect many of these companies to be forced accordingly to pass on this tax on consumers, which will lead to a rise in the prices of products sold online, " he laments.

Agreement between Macron and Trump

French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump reached an agreement last Monday at the Biarritz G-7 meeting to curb the escalation of tension between the two countries linked to the approval of the Google rate . In this way, the French Treasury will return to Amazon, Google, Facebook and other groups penalized with the new tax the difference between what is collected now and what ends up being fixed in the OECD agreement, planned for next year. It is a kind of fiscal engineering that allows Macron to collect now without guarantee that much will have to be returned in the future and that, in addition, giants like Amazon will not suffer because the customer will pay it.

Even so, the US CCIA association - which brings together Amazon, Google, Netflix or Facebook among others - has criticized Trump for reaching this agreement that allows Macron to mount the US tax without retaliation. Christian Boorgreen , vice president of CCIA and head of his office in Brussels, criticizes Sánchez's plans in conversation with this newspaper. "We ask Spain to lead efforts to achieve global tax reform, covering all sectors instead of promoting a discriminatory digital rate." "Our association advocates policies that encourage innovation and we are concerned about a rate like this, whose message to start-ups and investors is to go somewhere else," he adds.

In his speech of the failed investiture, on July 23, Pedro Sánchez was critical of the technology giants and gave Netflix as an example: "A well-known digital platform paid 3,146 euros in Spain for Corporate Income Tax. It is not the unique. This is not only unsustainable, but also undermines the most basic principles of fiscal responsibility and justice. "

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Amazon
  • Technology Companies

In the G7 France agreement with the US suspend the Google rate in exchange for reviewing international taxation

Balearic Islands The richest man in the world Jeff Bezos, on vacation with his girlfriend and some friends in Mallorca

Economy Isabel Diaz Ayuso challenges the autonomous governments of the PSOE to end their "fiscal hell"