UN To Debate Taxing Internet Data

Wowsers writes "In an effort to get ever more taxes for doing absolutely nothing, the United Nations will consider a European proposal to tax the internet based on data that gets sent. The proposal is designed to get money from large bandwidth users like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix. Smaller companies that have high bandwidth requirements could be forced off the internet due to the taxes. 'The sender-pays framework would likely prompt U.S.-based Internet services to reject connections from users in developing countries, who would become unaffordably expensive to communicate with, predicts Robert Pepper, Cisco's vice president for global technology policy.'"

Mod summary as insightful

[howardd21]

"In an effort to get ever more taxes for doing absolutely nothing"

That is the most insightful summary...ever

Re:My God

[lordholm]

The proposal is not written by european politicians, but rather by a an interest organization for european telecom operators.

Re:My God

[baturcotte]

Except that this isn't coming from the politicians...the proposal is the brainchild of European telecom companies, who are looking to make a cash grab because their uses are getting to high bandwidth US sites. Of course, I am amused how secret ITU treaty negotiations are bad when they negatively affect US companies, but how secret ACTA treaty negotiations are good when they protect US companies...

Re:My God

[MightyYar]

Of course, I am amused how secret ITU treaty negotiations are bad when they negatively affect US companies, but how secret ACTA treaty negotiations are good when they protect US companies...

I don't find that to be the prevailing opinion on Slashdot at all - I see very little defense of the ACTA treaty at all, let alone the secret negotiations.

Article Doesn't Add Up

[rssc]

I actually read the linked article and also skimmed through the leaked documents. I really can't find the things that the article is claiming are in there. From what I can make out, the leaked documents talk about taxes when billing telecommunication across borders (e.g., to prevent taxing services twice), like mobile phone roaming. How the article claims that this is about taxing large companies like Google and stuff is really beyond me. Can anybody point me to the part where it says that?

The whole article just seems inflammatory and some kind of anti-UN, anti-European reflex. I suppose mission accomplished, the knee-jerk reactions are already pouring in...

Re:Yet another remedy

[Sarten-X]

Exactly. The mechanism is not the loophole, but the abuse is.

Transferring your money to a different part of the same company? That shouldn't be taxed.

Your company's expenses were the same as its income, so you had no profits? That shouldn't be taxed.

Most of your profits are made in a country with low tax rates? That should be taxed, but only at the low rate.

Put them together with a hefty helping of accounting mayonnaise, and you have a Double Irish and Dutch Sandwich arrangement, a fully-legal loophole. Properly pulling it off requires at least four companies in three nations, so it's not something the average person can do in its entirety.

I personally, however, have made use of several of the provisions that make it work, so I won't claim I'm against any single part. I've transferred money to (and from) a business of my own, being happy not to face taxes on every transfer. I've moved money to a country with practically no taxes, because I was living there.

Re:My God

[s.petry]

You are not correct with your first sentence. The UN is not a government, does not have any citizens, and is not made up of an elected body. The UN is a panel of representatives from many countries. People already pay taxes to their countries, which in turn pays for the representatives that sit in the UN.

Money and assets that the UN owns, has been given as Gifts from various countries. As with above, this is already based on taxed income from citizens.

The UN has no authority over any country, especially those that are members. The UN was designed as a method of dispute mediation without armed conflict. There is a recent push (20 years or so) that wants the UN to be presented as the NWO Government, and make everyone in the world a subject. This rhetoric should bother you very much.