Tax system gives tech giants ‘unfair advantage’, says Publicis boss
Tech giants have an “unfair advantage” and a clampdown on the amount of tax they pay will help to level the playing field, the boss of Publicis has said.
Maurice Levy, chairman of the French media giant, today said he did not believe it was fair that digital firms could benefit from infrastructure and consumers in countries without paying tax there.
“The reality is that, when you are making business in a given country, you should have a fair tax in that specific country,” he told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Facebook have come under attack for their tax practices amid concerns they are dodging their liabilities by booking profit in low-tax countries such as Ireland.
France has already introduced a digital services tax, while a similar UK levy is set to be announced in the Budget in March.
Levy said that he was “personally against excessive taxation”, insisting instead that the tax crackdown would tackle the “unfair advantage” held by multinational tech firms.
“I think that, from a citizen’s point of view, they should not be overtaxed, this would be absolutely unfair, but they should be fairly taxed,” he said.
However, the decision by France and the UK to plough ahead with unilateral tax reform risks sparking anger from the US.
US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin today warned that his country could retaliate in the form of taxes on car companies if the government goes ahead with its plans. Top officials from both the UK and France are expected to hold talks with the US in Davos about their policies.
It comes after the OECD, which is tasked with creating a global tech tax policy, told the UK to “hold fire” on introducing its own levy, warning there would be a “cacophony and a mess” if a worldwide solution were not reached.