Latest news with #tax
National Post
8 hours ago
- Business
- National Post
Canada won't pause digital services tax despite pressure from U.S., finance minister says
OTTAWA — Canada won't put a hold on the digital services tax on big tech companies set to take effect on June 30, the finance minister said Thursday. Article content Article content Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Thursday the legislation was passed by Parliament and Canada is 'going ahead' with the tax. Article content Article content 'The (digital services tax) is in force and it's going to be applied,' he told reporters before a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill. Article content Article content It will apply retroactively, leaving U.S. companies with a $2 billion US bill due at the end of the month. A June 11 letter signed by 21 members of Congress said U.S. companies will pay 90 per cent of the revenue Canada will collect from the tax. Article content Canadian and U.S. business groups, organizations representing U.S. tech giants and American members of Congress have all signed letters in recent weeks calling for the tax to be eliminated or paused. Article content It's set to take effect just weeks before a deadline Canada and the U.S. have set for coming up with a new trade deal, following months of trade conflict between the two countries. Article content Rick Tachuk, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada, said the plan to go ahead with the tax 'undercuts those talks and risks derailing the agreement.' Article content Article content 'A retroactive tax like the DST, weeks before a new deal is supposed to be done, isn't a bargaining chip. It would likely be viewed as a provocation,' he said in an emailed statement. Article content Article content The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and other organizations have warned retaliatory measures in a U.S. spending and tax bill could hit Canadians' pension funds and investments. Article content Champagne said Canada isn't the only country that could be affected by those retaliatory measures. Article content David Pierce, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's vice-president of government relations, said in an earlier interview his organization fears Canada could 'aggravate an already very tricky trade discussion with the Americans' if it goes ahead with the tax and the retroactive payment requirement. Article content Matthew Holmes, the chamber's executive vice-president and chief of public policy, said in a statement that a Liberal government announcement on counter-tariffs to protect the steel and aluminum industries Thursday was 'geared toward the 30-day deadline, so we see no reason why DST's timeline shouldn't be as well.'
CBC
14 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Canada won't delay digital services tax during U.S. trade negotiations, says finance minister
Canada won't put a hold on the digital services tax on big tech companies set to take effect on June 30, the finance minister said Thursday. Pressure has mounted on Ottawa to hold off while the government is in trade discussions with the U.S., which opposes the tax. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the legislation was passed by Parliament, and Canada is "going ahead" with the tax. "The [digital services tax] is in force and it's going to be applied," he told reporters before a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill. The digital services tax will hit companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb with a three per cent levy on revenue from Canadian users. It will apply retroactively, leaving U.S. companies with a $2-billion US bill due at the end of the month. A June 11 letter signed by 21 members of Congress said U.S. companies would pay 90 per cent of the revenue Canada collects from the tax. Canadian and U.S. business groups, organizations representing U.S. tech giants and American lawmakers have all signed letters in recent weeks calling for the tax to be eliminated or paused. It is set to take effect just weeks before a deadline Canada and the U.S. have set for coming up with a new trade deal. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and other organizations have warned retaliatory measures in a U.S. budget bill could hit Canadians' pension funds and investments. Champagne said Canada isn't the only country that could be affected by those retaliatory measures. "These are discussions at the global level," he said in French. Champagne said there's a wider discussion going on among G7 nations about tax regimes. David Pierce, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's vice-president of government relations, said in an earlier interview his organization fears Canada could "aggravate an already very tricky trade discussion" if it goes ahead with the tax and the retroactive payment requirement. The Liberals first promised the tax in the 2019 election, but it was delayed for years due to global efforts to establish a broader, multinational digital taxation plan.
CTV News
18 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Champagne says Canada won't pause digital services tax
Minister of Finance and National Revenue Francois-Philippe Champagne rises during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday, June 2, CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA — Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says Canada is going ahead with its digital services tax on big tech companies that is set to take effect on June 30. Pressure has mounted on Ottawa to put the tax on hold ahead of trade discussions with the U.S. More coming. The Canadian Press
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CP NewsAlert: Champagne says Canada won't pause digital services tax
OTTAWA — Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says Canada is going ahead with its digital services tax on big tech companies that is set to take effect on June 30. Pressure has mounted on Ottawa to put the tax on hold ahead of trade discussions with the U.S. More coming. The Canadian Press
Irish Times
20 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Ireland is second most expensive country in Europe, data shows
Ireland is the second most expensive country in Europe with only Danes expected to pay more for a range of goods and services, the latest figures from Eurostat have confirmed. Prices here are much higher than the European average with things worsening over the last decade, the data suggests. Back in 2015, when Ireland was still considered a high-priced country, costs here were 28 per cent above the European average. The new figures suggest that gap has climbed to 38 per cent. When it comes to alcohol and tobacco, prices here are the most expensive and 205 per cent of the average with a significant portion of the price differential due to higher rates of tax and the introduction of minimum unit pricing on alcohol. READ MORE Food and non-alcoholic drink prices in Ireland are third highest in the EU, behind Luxembourg and Denmark/ They are almost 15 per cent higher than the average although this is a slight improvement on recent years. Back in 2020, prices were said to be 21 per cent higher than the European average. Restaurant and hotel prices are the second highest in the EU, behind only Denmark and 29 per cent above average, while communications costs are almost 40 per cent above average. Ireland is also the third most expensive country for electricity, gas and fuel with prices over 17 per cent above the mean. There are some areas when Ireland fares better, with clothes prices 1 per cent cheaper and cheaper than in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. 'We all know that Ireland is an expensive country and these figures from Eurostat today confirm it,' said Daragh Cassidy of price comparison and switching website 'There are several reasons why prices here are so high. These include: our higher wages, a lack of competition in certain sectors, high taxation on certain goods such as tobacco, alcohol and fuel, and lower government subsidies in certain areas such as public transport and childcare compared to our European neighbours.' He also noted that Irish businesses are also 'faced with high insurance and energy costs, which then get passed on to consumers. 'Ireland will never be a cheap place to live. And it's worth noting that many of the world's most expensive countries such as Switzerland, Iceland and Denmark also have some of the highest standards of living in the world. The problem is that wages in Ireland, while high by international standards, generally don't match the salaries in these countries.' He also pointed out that taxpayers in more expensive countries 'tend to get back more from the Government in terms of better and more affordable healthcare, childcare and public transport'. He said the Government should 'look at measures that are within its control to lower the impact of high prices and the cost of living in Ireland'. He highlighted the 23 per cent standard rate of VAT which is 'among the highest in the world' and said 'repeated failures to properly tackle our compo culture mean many businesses continue to pay astronomical insurance costs, which leads to higher prices for consumers.'
