The European Commission's proposed tax o

考试题库2022-08-02  33

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.What is the ultimate goal that digital tax legislation should pursue?A.Efficient unilateral solution.s.B.Simplified corporate tax systemsC.A global cooperative approachD.An anti-tax avoidance package

选项 A.Efficient unilateral solution.s.
B.Simplified corporate tax systems
C.A global cooperative approach
D.An anti-tax avoidance package

答案 C

解析 第七段先指出“欧盟应加紧努力设计多国解决方案,而非独自行动”,随后明确“立法最终目标应是公平的多边体系(a multilateral framework)”,最后再次强调“‘对数字经济征税,是国际性挑战,需要国际性的解决方案(a multinational/international solution)”,C.契合题意。[解题技巧]A.将第七段②句“多边体系亦应尊重各国立法主权(各国可变通地在多边体系下立法)”曲解为“采用单边解决方案”。B.将第七段②句complexity所修饰主体“数字经济”偷换为“公司税制”,并由此臆断出“应简化公司税制”。D.由第三段“数字公司通过转移无形资产避税”推断而来,但选项遗漏文章核心观点“欧盟的区域性解决方案不可行,数字税立法需全球通力合作”。
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