Why controversy over digital services tax could create a new trade war

The OECD does recognise the need to reform international tax rules for taxation of digital businesses but so far hasn't arrived at a consensus on the scope and manner of taxation

As the world stares at a looming recession, “Big Tech” businesses are thriving globally. E-commerce, subscriptions, and distributed business infrastructure have emerged as major revenue drivers. This has led more countries (Brazil, Spain, Czech Republic) and the European Union (EU) to consider and charter a domestic path towards digital taxation, as a source to augment the languishing fiscal revenues. These are popularly known as Digital Service Taxes (DSTs).

As most Big Tech businesses are headquartered in the United States (US), as a measure of countering growing “protectionism”, the US has decided to investigate the DSTs adopted or under consideration by