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An overview of digital service taxation

raul Katz

Geneva: ITU (2025), xi, 36 pp.

"The study’s first major conclusion is that taxes imposed both on operators and on consumers remain in place in many countries around the world. At least 74 countries impose taxes on service providers, whether environmentally related, import duties on equipment or VAT on equipment purchases. Simil ... arly, 145 countries impose VAT on mobile services, while 74 apply import duties on mobile devices. Secondly, some nuanced geographic patterns in terms of taxation approaches can be teased out from the data. The group of countries exempting equipment purchases from taxation include advanced economies and some less developed countries. This would indicate that this group is not only composed of countries that do not require equipment taxation to increase revenues but also countries that prioritize maximization of network coverage (stimulated by lower equipment taxes) over tax collection. That said, there appears to be countries, mostly concentrated in the developing world, with some middle-income economies, that still prioritize tax collection from import duties on equipment. Thirdly, unlike with network equipment, many countries were identified that exempt consumer devices from import duty or device-specific taxes. Furthermore, several developing countries were found to tax the import of devices at an extremely high rate. However, some countries have established consumer device taxation approaches aimed at reducing the purchasing acquisition cost. At the other end, some countries appear to have imposed high taxation on consumer devices. In addition to taxes on devices, affordability of telecommunications/ICTs for consumers is affected by VAT paid on mobile telecommunications services, a fairly common practice across countries. Of all services to which VAT is applied, the most prevalent service is outgoing international traffic, where rates range between 2.75 per cent and 20 per cent. Finally, many countries have enacted a digital service tax to address perceived gaps in corporate income-tax systems. This approach imposes a tax on gross receipts derived from digital advertising, data mining and other types of digital platform revenue. A few countries have already implemented national approaches aimed at tackling profit shifting by digital platforms. While many countries did not report the application of digital service taxes in the ITU Tariff Policies Survey, of the 115 nations that provided a response, only 17 reported applying a digital service tax, and the percentage applied varies from 3% (Fance) to 21% (Argentina). This limited evidence prevents us from understanding what the current trend is in this domain." (Conclusion) more

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Filmgeschäftsführung: Kostenmanagement bei Film und Fernsehen

Markus Yagapen

Köln: Herbert von Halem Verlag, 4, komplett überarb. Aufl. (2024), 211 pp.

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How Social Media Taxes Can Burden News Outlets: The Case of Uganda

Juliet Nanfuka

Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) (2019)

"In July 2018, the government of Uganda implemented a tax on individual users of social media platforms. In the first three months following the introduction of the tax in the country, internet penetration dropped from 47 percent to 35 percent. Given that a significant amount of news circulation now ... more

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Steuerrecht in Nonprofit-Organisationen

Ursula Augsten

Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler, 2n ed. (2015), xvi, 304 pp.

"Gemeinnützige Einrichtungen können von zahlreichen Steuerbegünstigungen profitieren. Um diese zu erreichen, ist nicht nur deren Kenntnis, sondern auch eine zielgenaue Umsetzung erforderlich. Dies gilt insbesondere in Zeiten knapp werdender öffentlicher Mittel. Das Buch ist sowohl den beratenden ... more

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Reporting Tax Research: Connecting Researchers and Journalists for Improved Media Coverage and Debate in Kenya

London: Panos London (2010), 20 pp.

"In late 2009, three newspaper articles appeared in the Kenyan press, contributing to a newly emerging debate in the Kenyan media over government transparency and accountability. Media reporting in Kenya on governance issues, particularly in relation to corrupt practices in public spending, is not n ... more

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Removing Taxes on Knowledge

F. K. Liebich

Paris: UNESCO (1969), 43 pp.