$\"\"$ NEW DELHI: India could take the lead globally in outlining a feasible structure for taxing digital entities that have a large user base or business in a country but don’t have a significant physical presence there.
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Union Budget 2018<\/a> has, for the first time, mentioned India’s intent to tax digital businesses by amending Section 9 of the Income Tax<\/a> Act. According to experts, the discussion is part of the OECD and G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) and India is the first country to have taken concrete steps in this direction.
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\nThe digital tax will impact not just large companies such as Google, Facebook or Netflix but also scores of much smaller technology or Internet-driven companies that have operations in India.
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\nAmit Maheshwari, partner, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates LLP, said digital companies have a unique model of operation where they don't need to have physical presence in India to earn revenue.
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\n“Till now, there was no system to tax them. The equalisation levy was imposed only for online advertising which is a very small chunk of their operations. The government is now saying that they have the right to tax such companies under section 9, which have some economic nexus in India.”
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\nMaheshwari said that a discussion on this front is important since India is becoming a large market for many Internet companies given the huge number of smartphone and Internet users in India.
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\nThe fine print of the Budget documents mentioned that the government will amend Section 9 of the Income Tax Act to provide that “significant economic presence” in India shall also constitute “business connection”.
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\nIt said that “significant economic presence” could include download of data or software in India or interaction with a prescribed number of users. The government will hold consultations with stakeholders to spell out the finer details.
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\nAn official of a large technology company said that most companies are not shying away from paying taxes but the government should come out with a formula that works for everybody. “Some of the challenges are questions such as what will determine India income, just because a company has users in here doesn’t mean it is necessarily making any revenue or profits from India.” Netflix, Facebook, Google and AirBnB did not respond to queries seeking comments from ET.
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\nSpeaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Google CEO Sunder Pichai said the tax structure needs to be reformed in order to address these concerns by countries. “As a company we paid, over the last five years, close to 20% in tax. We are happy to pay a higher amount, whatever the world agrees on as the right framework. It’s not an issue about the amount of tax we pay, as much as how you divide it among various countries.”
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\nAmending the I-T Act will enable the government to renegotiate its trade agreements (Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement) only after which companies will start paying taxes in India. Subho Ray, president of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), said that the body is open to having discussions with the government on this.
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\n“Our only concern is that there should be parity in terms of international law of taxation since there are global companies operating in India but Indian technology companies also have operations the world over.”
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\nHe said that one of the biggest concerns for the industry was the lack of level playing field when it comes to paying GST by an Indian and a foreign company. “If a foreign company books hotels in India through an online portal, it deon’t pay GST but an Indian company doing the same thing has to pay the tax. We want this issue to be sorted at the earliest since it creates disadvantage for Indian companies,” he said.
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2018年预算:外国数码公司与印度用户可能需要纳税

预算文件提到,政府将修改秒9的它行动提供的重大经济业务在印度还应当构成的业务联系。

Surabhi阿加瓦尔,
等局

更新于2018年2月3日09:03点坚持

新德里:印度可能会在全球范围内率先制定出可行的结构用于征税数码实体拥有一个庞大的用户群或业务的国家,但没有显著的物理存在。

联盟预算2018第一次,提到印度的意图修改部分9数字企业的税收所得税的行为。据专家介绍,讨论是经合组织的一部分,20国集团(G20)基地侵蚀和利润转移(易暴食组)和印度是第一个国家已采取具体步骤在这个方向。

数字税将影响不仅仅是大公司如Google, Facebook或Netflix也许多规模小得多的技术或网络公司业务在印度。

Amit Maheshwari,伙伴,Ashok Maheshwary & Associates LLP说数字公司有一个独特的模型的操作不需要实体店在印度获得收入。

“直到现在,没有系统的税收。在线广告的平衡税实施只是非常小的一块业务。政府现在说他们有权税收这些公司在部分9日在印度有经济联系。”

Maheshwari说,印度在这方面的讨论非常重要,因为许多互联网公司正在成为一个大市场的大量智能手机和互联网用户在印度。

预算文件提到的小字,政府将修改部分9所得税法提供的“重大经济存在”在印度还应当构成“业务联系”。

它说,“重大经济存在”可能包括下载的数据或软件在印度或与规定数量的用户交互。政府将与利益相关者举行磋商拼出细节。

大型科技公司的一位官员说,大多数公司都没有回避纳税但是政府应该推出一个公式,适合每个人。”问题的一些挑战将决定什么印度等收入,仅仅因为一个公司的用户在这里并不意味着它必然是做任何收入或利润来自印度。“Netflix, Facebook、谷歌和AirBnB并未对此事作出回应的评论等。

在上个月在达沃斯世界经济论坛,谷歌首席执行官破Pichai表示,税收结构需要改革,以解决这些问题的国家。“作为一个公司我们支付,在过去的五年里,近20%的税收。我们很乐意支付更高的金额,无论全世界都公认的正确的框架。这不是一个问题我们缴的税,像如何划分在不同的国家。”

修改它的行为将使政府重新协商其贸易协定(避免双重征税协议)后才在印度公司将开始纳税。Subho射线,印度互联网和移动协会主席(IAMAI)说,身体是开放与政府讨论这个。

“我们唯一担心的是,应该有平等的国际税收法律由于是全球性的公司在印度,但印度科技公司也有世界各地的业务。”

他说,该行业的最大问题之一是缺乏公平的竞争环境时由印度和外国公司支付销售税。“如果一家外国公司书籍酒店在印度通过一个在线门户,迪翁•不支付销售税但一家印度公司做同样的事情必须交税。我们希望这个问题最早进行排序,因为它为印度公司创造不利,”他说。