American Big Tech companies are facing a digital web tax in Italy and other countries in Europe which the United States government wants gone, and is now calling again for its removal from the country. It was revealed by reports that the US views this taxation as 'unfair' and a form of 'discrimination' as it targets several of the American tech companies according to sources.
However, it was also revealed that Italy is currently waiting on the results of the 2024 US Presidential elections, especially as a new administration is on the verge of handling these matters.
US Wants Italy to Drop its Digital Web Taxes
The United States has renewed its calls to Italy to have the country drop its digital web taxes that are mostly affecting America's Big Tech companies, with sources claiming this latest plea according to Reuters. Moreover, it was also revealed that this continued demand by the United States may prompt a risky situation for Rome, saying that Washington may retaliate should its request not be met.
It was revealed that Italy is yet to make its move because of the current 2024 US elections, awaiting the next leader and their administration's stand regarding the issue, according to officials who asked to be anonymous.
This particular matter saw Italy imposing this three percent levy on transactions taking place on the internet in 2019, focusing on digital companies that make at least 750 million euros in revenue and 5.5 million were made in Italy.
Despite Donald Trump already claiming the win in this current election, it will still take some time before the new leader of the White House makes a move regarding this, with Italy continuing with its taxation.
US Big Tech Faces Discrimination in Italy
The companies that were classified to be taxed by the Italian government include Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, Alphabet's Google, and the biggest e-commerce platform in the world, Amazon. With Italy's 3 percent levy, it earns almost 500 million euros per year, which is a relatively small revenue claims Reuters.
That being said, the current US administration has already threatened Italy with tariffs if this digital web taxation continues. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has plans to remove the 'minimum conditions' of the tax, to make it fair for these US Big Tech corporations and subject more companies to pay their share and remove the 'discrimination.'
Europe's Policies Against US Tech
The European Commission and the EU member countries have exerted their rules and regulations against Big Tech companies which significantly affected American corporations as most of these are from the US. One of the most strict legislations was the Digital Markets Act which designated many US Big Tech names to be 'gatekeepers,' with Apple effecting massive changes because of this.
Other US tech companies have also faced many antitrust complaints which the European Union investigated, urging these companies to open up their services and remove their 'anti-competition' practices for EU operations. Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and more also face these scrutinies in the region, with significant changes made to make it fair for Europeans to use their technologies.
That being said, the United States and its Treasury Department noticed these EU regulations, particularly with Italy's taxation which mostly affected American Big Tech companies during its run. While Italy previously proposed a solution by removing the minimum conditions and making it fair for all tech companies to face taxation, the case is yet to move forward.
