Tobin tax and Google tax: new taxes on financial transactions and on digital services are laid before parliament

The Spanish council of ministers approved on February 18 the decision to lay before parliament the bills creating financial transactions tax and the tax on certain digital services.

Let us recall that the financial transactions tax will levy 0.2% on transactions for acquiring the shares of listed Spanish companies with market capitalization above €1,000 million,  regardless of the places of residence of the agents acting in those transactions; and will not affect the primary market, transactions necessary for the functioning of market infrastructure, company restructuring transactions, transactions taking place between companies in the same group, or temporary transfers. The taxable person will be the financial intermediary that transmits or executes the purchase order; and assessment of the tax will be monthly.

The tax on certain digital services will levy 3% on online advertising services, online intermediation services and sales of data obtained from information supplied by users; and will affect companies with revenues above €750 million worldwide and €3 million in Spain. Falling outside its scope are sales of goods or services between users in the context of an online intermediation service and sales of goods or services made online on the website of the supplier of those goods or services in which the supplier does not act as intermediary. The tax will be assessed quarterly except in 2020, when its assessment has been set for December.

We will have to wait until the bills are published to find out their contents (along with whether and how they differ from the bills filed in the previous legislature) and until they go through parliament to see how they evolve.