### The European Commission wants to charge US Internet companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter & Co with a special tax. Scientists are alarmed, that could strengthen the trade dispute.

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Economists are against the plans of the European Commission's to introduce a tax for digital companies from the US. The majority in the scientific advisory board of the German Federal Ministry of Finance warns that this could look like a protectionist act.

The concept of the EU Commission is based on an additional tax for half a dozen American companies which will probably do more harm than good. It will especially increase the trade dispute with the US. Washington is currently threatening Europe with punitive tariffs, including steel and aluminum. The US will only waive it under new conditions.

In the paper about the discussed EU digital tax, which Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici will present on Wednesday, companies to be targeted are specifically named by the Commission. Among them are Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, Airbnb and Uber, mainly companies from the United States.

The EU wants to put a European-wide unique tax rate on the gross proceeds of these companies. It will probably be between one and five percent.

"The EU should be wary of firing temporary snap shots that put a strain on the system in the long term," demands the  director at the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Wolfgang Schön.

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Source: AFP, Reuters

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