German finance minister expects digital tax reform to take time

VIENNA (Reuters) - Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Saturday a European tax overhaul to increase levies on large digital firms will need time to be agreed, but insisted a solution was needed.

FILE PHOTO: German Finance Minister and vice-chancellor Olaf Scholz attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany August 1, 2018. REUTERS/Joachim Herrmann/File Photo

In a joint press statement with Scholz, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said he will propose adding “a sunset clause” to a European Union plan for a 3 percent tax on the digital turnover of large firms to EU finance ministers meeting in Vienna.

Under his proposal, the new tax, which has not been agreed yet, would end once a deal is reached at global level on the reform of the taxation of digital companies.

Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Francois Murphy; Editing by Alexander Smith

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

(Original source)