A multilateral solution

Create joint norms on digital taxation with other jurisdictions

Speaking recently at a meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman raised the vexed issue of cross-border digital taxation, and said that a “consensus-based solution should be simple, inclusive, and based on a robust economic assessment”. The finance minister was right to bring up the problem at this venue, since the question of taxing cross-border digital services is one that the G-20 (together with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD) has sought to address for some time now. Indeed, Ms Sitharaman’s words directly echoed the work programme on digital taxation produced