‘Tax on social media users. Could Chicago's innovative levy reach Europe?’ (with Diogo Feio and Mélanie Pereira)

"If VAT rules remain unchanged, it will continue to be difficult, but countries have been increasingly creative in circumventing these rules, according to tax experts. ‘Several Member States have creatively and cautiously designed digital tax regimes to avoid conflicts with VAT rules,’ say Diogo Feio and Mélanie Pereira, tax law Of Counsels at SRS Legal.

Both believe that it is in the EU's interest to create common rules for taxing these digital landscapes, although a tax such as Chicago's is still a ‘distant reality’ among Member States because it is incompatible with European VAT rules. ‘The trend is towards harmonisation and regulation of the digital economy, albeit with different contours from those existing at local level in the United States,’ predict Diogo Feio and Mélanie Pereira.

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‘While SMAT aims to tax consumption, focusing on access to social networks by resident users, the Spanish “Google tax” and the French GAFAM tax focus on the gross revenue obtained by companies from certain digital services, regardless of whether there is direct payment by the user,’ summarise Diogo Feio and Mélanie Pereira.»