Italy includes small, medium-sized businesses in digital tax - The move comes after US complaints and concerns about "retaliation"
Italy has expanded domestic taxes on digital services, including small and medium-sized enterprises, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said. This move comes after objections from the US that the imposed tax was discriminatory.
Addressing lawmakers on the government's 2025 budget, Giorgetti said other European Union countries are expected to do the same to avoid possible retaliation.
Washington has threatened tariffs on unilateral digital taxes in Europe, as they mainly target US tech companies such as Meta Platforms, Google and Amazon.
Italy in 2019 imposed a 3% tax on income from internet transactions for digital companies with annual sales of at least 750 million euros, if at least 5.5 million are made in Italy.
Now, as part of the government's 2025 budget, the Treasury plans to remove these minimum conditions, aiming to raise an additional €51.6 million on top of the current revenue of €400 million.
Giorgetti said that the increase in the number of companies that had to pay the tax was aimed at avoiding clashes with Washington. "This eliminates the 'discrimination' element underlying the US complaint," Giorgetti said. "I think others will imitate us."
During Donald Trump's first term as US president, Washington said it was prepared to oppose the Italian tax. Now that Trump has won a second term, the internet tariff is likely to remain a sensitive issue for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, an Italian government official said.
But some lawmakers in Italy's ruling coalition oppose the Treasury's proposed changes, arguing that the tax should continue to focus on big American technologies.
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