Norwegian tax director Hans Christian Holte fears for the global tax system, when major players like Facebook, Google and Amazon can legally avoid taxation where they operate. He’s demanding new regulations that would force the social media giants to pay up.
“We are most concerned about securing confidence in the tax system,” Holte told state broadcaster NRK this week, just before his agency starts sending out tax returns to millions of Norwegians. “It’s important that we have a system that functions for all types of companies.”
He believes large multi-nationals undermine the tax system and in turn the welfare state and taxpayers’ morale when they are allowed to avoid tax by shifting revenues across borders. New regulations are urgently needed to disallow such practices, he told NRK.
Holte was taking part this week at the OECD’s tax summit in Chile, and planned, as leader of the OECD’s tax forum, to take up the issue of taxing large global companies.
newsinenglish.no staff
