The European Commission's proposed tax o

资格题库2022-08-02  18

问题 The European Commission's proposed tax on digital services is intended to make companies such as Google and Uber pay more.The idea is that such firms are gaming the rules at the expense of other taxpayers.The issue is real and needs to be addressed-but the answer under discussion breaks with both established international practice and plain common sense.Formal talks on the plan are due to start this week.The commission is calling for a 3 percent tax on the turnover of large digital enterprises-those with EU digital revenues over 50 million euros and total global revenues of over 750 million euros.About half the companies affected would be American,the EU estimates.The commission says it has been left with little choice.The value generated by digital companies doesn't require a physical presence,making them harder to rax.Digital businesses arrange their affairs to exploit this:They allocate income to low-tax jurisdictions and,according to officials,end up paying an effective tax of roughly 10 percent of profits,less than half of the burden carried by traditional businesses.Officials acknowledge that the right solution is a thorough overhaul of the corporate tax code,especially as it affects international firms selling digital services-and that this should be done not unilaterally but in cooperation with other countries,notably the U.S.Efforts are in fact underway,but progress has been slow,and EU officials have chosen to do something,anything,as soon as possible.Doing nothing would be better than this.For a start,the plan wouldn't raise much revenue-a meager 5 billion euros each year.And this supposedly fairer tax would bring abnormal results.For instance,companies such as Uber that don't make money will have a new cost to absorb;highly profitable firms with market power,such as Facebook,will be able to pass the tax on to their consumers.Small startups will be exempt from the new tax-unless they're acquired by larger companies.That will discourage consolidations.And the proposal as it stands may tax more activities than intended:Some financial services,for example,seem to be within its scope In its zeal to tax digital enterprises,the commission departs from many of its own stated principles.Its plan would probably require accessing individual,not just anonymized,user data.This runs counter to the EU's strict new rules on privacy,coming into force next month.Efforts to design a multinational solution need to be stepped up,not set aside.The goal should be a fair,multilateral framework that recognizes the complexity of the new digital economy while respecting the sovereignty of nations to set their own tax policy.That's an international challenge demanding an international solution.The author believes ihat the commission's tax plan wouldA.ultimately harm consumersB.benefit some financial servicesC.help curb monopoly powerD.force privacy rules to be modified.

选项 A.ultimately harm consumers
B.benefit some financial services
C.help curb monopoly power
D.force privacy rules to be modified.

答案 A

解析 第五、六段明确欧洲数字税计划的后果(the plan wouldn't.…Its plan would.…)。第五段先指出数字税计划不仅不会增加多少税收,还会引发很多异常现象,随后举例说明异常现象(For Jnstance).其中之一为④句“高盈利公司会把税费转嫁给消费者”;第六段②句“可能需要获取个人的非匿名数据”暗示数字税计划可能会“侵犯个人(消费者)隐私”,综上判断A.正确。[解题技巧]B.与第五段⑦句“数字税可能会波及一些计划外的活动,如一些金融服务(会损害一些金融服务的利益)”相悖。C.与第五段④句“脸谱网等高盈利公司会转嫁其税收负担(不会受到太大影响)”相悖。D.将第六段“欧盟的数字税计划背离其隐私新规(行为前后矛盾)”篡改为“隐私新规将被修改、以契合数字税计划”。
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