Italy to impose ‘web tax’ on tech giants including, Facebook, Google, and Amazon

The Italian government has approved a new tax on the digital companies, including the tech giants of the United States, as part of its 2020 draft budget on Wednesday.

The imposition of the new tax on digital companies could draw threats of retaliation from Washington.

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According to the text of the draft, the levy, which is to be introduced from the next year, will oblige the tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon to pay a 30% levy on all the internet transactions.

On the other hand, Washington repeatedly said that the levy on the digital companies unfairly targeted the US-based tech companies.

A senior official of the United States said that the President of the US Donald Trump was ready to threaten retaliation when he meets Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Washington on Wednesday.

The move by the Italian government is expected to generate about 600 million euros (662 million dollars) a year as Rome tries to find an alternative way to generate the revenue that will allow it to avoid a scheduled increase in sales tax.

It is pertinent to mention here that the other European Union members have already complained about that way the digital giants are collecting a huge profit in their countries and pay only a few million euro in taxes each year.