The Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Kh Besent, met this week with the Minister of Economy, Commerce and company of Spain, Carlos Body. Both have maintained Conversations about issues related to trade between the United States and Spain. Besent stood out the need for Spain to increase the defense expense in the context of NATO and stressed the continuous opposition of the United States to the ‘Google Rate’ applied by Spain and other countries.
The origin
The ‘Google rate’ has its Origin in October 2018 When the Government of Spain approved the Draft Law of the New Tax on certain digital servicesand thus became the First country to apply this rate that the European Commission was studying implementing the EU.
The rate entered in force on January 16, 2021 And it is part of the European Union’s proposal to impose a tax on certain digital services on large technological technology, which is how it is officially called, IDSD.
In early 2021, Amazon and Google announced that they would begin to apply a surcharge in Spain and France as a consequence of tax approval in those countries.
- Amazon: announced a 3% surcharge which began to be applied on April 1, 2021 to the vendors sold at Amazon.es (Spain).
- Google: announced a 2% surcharge which began to apply on May 1, 2021 to online advertising clients in Spain.
These surcharges were a direct response to the implementation of tax services in both countries
It is important to keep in mind that The way Amazon manages this rate has evolved slightly since then, introducing a “Digital Services Rate” Separated in October 2024, but the cost for sellers and, potentially, for final consumers, there is still as a result of this tax.
Affected companies
This rate affects large Internet multinationals with income greater than 750 million euros worldwide and generate income in Spain exceeding 3 million euros.
The companies that affect the most are Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, That is why the name of ‘Gafa’ Rate ‘is also given.
Spain is not the only country
- France: also implemented a rate of 3% which appeared as well as the Spanish.
- Italy: initially introduced a rate of 3%.
- United Kingdom: implemented a rate of 2%.
- Türkiye: applied a slightly higher rate, of the 5%.
- Hungary: His rate was one of the highest, of the 7.5% (On online advertising sales).
- Poland: established a rate of 1.5%.
- Austria: In this case the rate was applied from a certain billing threshold.
The OECD agreement
It is important to keep in mind that the panorama of These taxes have been constantly changing, with some countries announcing their intention to abandon them in favor of a International Fiscal Agreement led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
This agreement proposes that large digital companies, as well as those that offer final services, pay part of their taxes in countries where their users are, even if they do not have physical presence In them.
US position
The US administration since it was imposed has expressed its opposition to tax services implemented, both by Spain and by several European countries, for considering it Discriminatory towards American technology companies.
They already existed before threats of possible commercial reprisals, including tariffs, against countries that maintain these rates. But it is ruled out that the current tariffs implemented by the US government are related to this rate.
Although No tariffs have been imposed directly For the ‘Google rate’ to Spain to date, the possibility of future measures cannot be ruled out, especially in the context of the continuous negotiations and the firm posture of the United States on this subject and taking into account the current commercial tension in the world.
