Italy and US jointly oppose tech taxes

Italy and the US issued a joint statement on Friday to fight "discriminatory" taxes on digital services. According to Reuters, this could mean that Rome will refuse to impose tariffs that have displeased Washington.

Italy currently applies a 3% tax on internet transaction revenue for technology companies with sales of at least 750 million euros ($862.5 million). The EU-approved levies are designed to reduce the influence of US tech giants such as Google, Apple, Amazon and others.

As both sides emphasized in the statement, creating a non-discriminatory tax environment for digital services is essential to attracting investment from cutting-edge technology companies. However, the statement did not indicate whether Italy had committed to abolishing existing taxes.

On the contrary, parties of Italy's ruling coalition are supporting stricter taxation of large tech companies. They believe this will help secure the necessary funding for the country's budget. Such a contradiction makes it difficult for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to make decisions.