Rome, September 9, 2017 – Minister Padoan signed a joint political statement with the Finance Ministers of Germany, France and Spain in support of an initiative to tax Internet and technology companies. The statement was sent to Toomas Töniste, the Finance Minister of Estonia, which is currently holding the rotating presidency of the EU Council, and a copy thereof was forwarded to European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.
At the next informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers (Ecofin), due to take place in Tallin from September 15 to 16, and especially during the second working session, dedicated to the challenges of corporate taxation in the digital age, the Finance Ministers of the biggest countries of the eurozone are going to present an initiative to tax Internet companies. The initiative aims at taxing companies that are doing business in Europe but are not paying an adequate amount of tax and are thereby undermining the principles of tax equity and the very sustainability of the European social and economic model.