The United States Withdraws From Global Digital Tax Negotiations:
This week in tax news was defined by the US government's decision to withdraw from multilateral international discussions regarding a potential "digital tax" deal, which could result in a wave of new taxes on US tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet Inc. (Google), and Facebook. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told media that "we have a situation where a variety of countries have decided that the easiest way to raise revenue is to tax somebody else’s companies and they happen to be ours. The United States will not let that happen."
However, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told a French Senate committee hearing last week that "the last state that is blocking an agreement on digital taxation at the OECD is the United States." The OECD has long been trying to bring an international consensus on a global tax overhaul that would address how large multinationals - particularly those silicon valley tech-giants - are taxed in countries where they have users or consumers.
Read more from CNBC here and BNN Bloomberg here.
CERB Program Extended by Two Months:
The Canadian Government announced Tuesday, June 16, that the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program has been extended another two months, and will now run until September. The CERB, administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), provides $2000 payments monthly to eligible Canadians as a part of the Government of Canada's economic response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
As of June 4th, the federal government has spent a total of $43.5 billion on the program, sending more than 8.4 million Canadians the $2,000 monthly payments. The CERB's currently projected final "price tag" of over $73 billion would make it Canada's largest economic program since the Second World War.
Read more from CBC News here and CTV News here.
Petition Calls for Reinstatement of Saskatchewan Film Tax Credit:
A petition is urging the Government of Saskatchewan to re-think its 2012 decision to end a film tax credit which provided an incentive for production companies to shoot in the province.
Filmmaker Alyson Ford, who authored the petition, told CTV News that "a film employs so many people, it doesn’t just employ the actors. You keep going down [the credits] and you start to see the caterers, the hotels that were involved. Right now this is the perfect time to restart Saskatchewan and the economy. This is probably the easiest thing you can do. Have the tax credit, lure these companies back."
Read more from CTV News here.
Vietnam Cuts Corporate Tax Rate for 2020:
Vietnam’s National Assembly on June 19 voted to ratify the Vietnamese government’s proposal to cut the national corporate income tax (CIT) by 30 percent. The reduction measure was approved by more than 90 percent of all Vietnamese State members.
Read more from Vietnam Briefing here.