The creation of a temporary levy, a complex measure

The creation of a temporary levy, a complex measure

It could be included in the recommendations of the OECD, but the experts are committed to advancing the common tax base in Societies in the EU

  Finding a global solution for technology multinationals to pay where they generate the benefits is taking the first steps at the level of the OECD or the G20. However, solving this problem involves coordinating a series of measures that are still far from occurring. For that reason, some countries, including Spain, want to act before. And it is in this framework that the possibility of establishing a temporary tax for the operations of these companies is framed. A measure that could be contemplated in the report that the OECD will advance in March to the G20, as explained last week by the president of the Global Transparency Forum of the OECD and deputy general director of International Taxation of the Tax Agency. María José Garde.

A taxation that the Minister of Finance, Cristóbal Montoro, made clear that Spain does not intend to approve alone, but always by the hand of its European partners. In this sense, the large EU economies (Germany, France, Italy and Spain) already sent a joint letter in September to the president of the Eurogroup to request a European regulation so that the taxation of technology companies is commensurate with the volume of income generated in each territory.


 The taxation of technology companies in Spain is only 4.6% of their income
 REGULAR OR NOT THE TECHNOLOGICAL GIANTS, THAT IS THE QUESTION
In any case, the experts consider that a tax on the operations of these companies is quite unviable. "It's a pretty green subject. It is not something that can be done in the medium term, "says José María Mollinedo, general secretary of the Trade Union of Technicians of the Ministry of Finance (Gestha). In his opinion, the taxable event of this tax should be very defined and could come into conflict with the VAT if finally what is to be taxed are the operations or the invoicing of these companies. The concept of permanent virtual establishment that is included in the OECD BEPS program is also not clear.

On the other hand, Mollinedo believes that it is necessary to move forward in the European Commission's project of a common consolidated tax base in Corporate Tax. This would prevent multinationals from artificially transferring the income generated in subsidiaries from one country to another with greater tax advantages. Right now a widely used tactic is that multinationals set their matrix in countries such as Ireland or the Netherlands, where taxation for 'royalties' (payments for the copyright of a product) is very low or exempt. In this way, these matrices are responsible for marketing these intangible products, so that all subsidiaries suffer a depletion in favor of this company for the use of patents.

Another way to lower the tax bill is the 'tax rulings'. That is to say, a multinational pacts with the State a taxation outside the standard legislation. This is what happened in the 'Luxleaks' case in which the Luxembourg Government reached secret agreements with more than 340 large companies to pay less than 1%.

For something similar the European Commission ordered Ireland to recover 13,000 million in taxes not collected from Apple for illegal tax benefits. Amazon will have to pay another 250 million to Luxembourg for the same reason. Google has already agreed with the United Kingdom to pay 172 million for back taxes.