EU ditches digital tax plan, to work for global reform

European Union (EU) members on Tuesday scrapped a plan to introduce a region-wide digital tax as some states opposed it, the Romanian presidency of the EU said.

The move is likely to be welcomed by digital giants such as Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook, who would have fallen under the scope of the envisaged 3 per cent levy.

However, they face similar taxes that EU states, such as France, Italy, Britain and Spain, are introducing at national level.

Speaking in a public session of a meeting of EU finance ministers, Romania’s Eugen Teodorovici said there was no agreement on the tax despite months of talks, as the bloc’s Nordic countries and Ireland kept opposing the reform.