Google’s stance on tax puts Big Tech in a spot

Google’s stance of passing on the 2% equalisation levy to all its clients, even if they aren’t based in India, is set to cause trouble for companies such as Amazon, Apple, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as the tax department is likely to ask the other big tech companies to follow suit.

These companies haven’t decided to pass on the levy to customers but the taxman could take Google’s stance as a precedent and demand that other big tech companies follow suit. Going by the taxman’s definition, any transaction – even between two entities that are not based in India – can be taxed here.