Google, Facebook and others seek to defer Indian digital tax: Sources

Big US tech firms such as Google and Facebook plan to seek deferment of a new Indian digital tax, which has caught them off-guard as businesses battle the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, three industry sources told Reuters.
India announced last week that, from Apr. 1, all foreign billings for digital services provided in the country would attract a 2% tax. Foreign billings are where companies take payment abroad for a service provided to customers in India.
The tax would also apply to e-commerce transactions on websites such as Amazon.com, as well as advertising revenue earned from companies overseas if it eventually “targets a customer” in India, the government said.
Executives from top technology companies got together on conference calls organised by U.S.-India business lobby groups last week, and decided to seek a deferment of at least six months, said the three people aware of the talks. They asked not to be named as the discussions were private.