MANILA (Reuters) – A Philippine lawmaker has introduced a bill in parliament aimed at taxing big tech firms such as Facebook, Alphabet’s Google and Youtube, Netflix and Spotify, to raise funds to battle the coronavirus.
FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Facebook logo is placed between small toy people figures in front of a keyboard in this illustration taken April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
The bill looks to raise 29 billion pesos ($571 million) by imposing a value added tax on digital services provided in the Philippines, a key growth area for e-commerce transactions as its people are among the world’s heaviest users of social media.
“We spent to fight COVID-19 and we need more to continue fighting it and recover,” Congressman Joey Salceda, the bill’s principal author, told Reuters.
“It sends a strong signal to the world that the Philippines is ready for the digital transformation. We are putting our taxation in order.”
Starting next year, Salceda said, funds…
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