Tax and Technology

S. 281. Introduction

The economy has changed, and the question of the international regulatory framework that governs it becomes vital for understanding and comprehending what principles and rules apply to it. With the development of the digitalization of the economy, certain companies with a large share of the international market and no physical presence in certain jurisdictions began to fall outside the scope of the international tax system.

In 1998, the OECD initiated the debate on the taxation of e-commerce with the report “Electronic Commerce: Taxation Framework Conditions: Report to the Ottawa Conference 1998”. It sought to put the digital economy and its taxation on the policy agenda by examining the possibility of a redetermination of the taxation of the digital economy.

Over the past 25 years, progress has been significant, diverse, and sometimes scattered. However, the international community is still searching for a uniform response to the problem of the digital economy, specifically considering that between 4% and 10% of global income tax revenues were lost by the jurisdictions due to practices developed by certain companies. Nevertheless, such a search has rethought the whole...