Polish PM appeals for EU consensus on digital tax

WARSAW, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday that there should be no tax havens in Europe and that, if there is no common EU Digital tax, member states will have to act alone.

"The European Commission itself and the OECD consider some countries, like Cyprus and Malta -- but lately even Belgium or Ireland, as countries which help multinational giants to avoid paying tax," Morawiecki said.

The prime minister said that Poland was one of the countries bringing up the topic of a common Digital tax at meetings of the European Council and that Warsaw was in touch often with France and Germany about the issue.

Morawiecki said that, according to his sources, Austria was getting ready to introduce a Digital tax despite the lack of EU consensus.

"We want to do it together with all EU countries, but the Austrian example shows that, if there is no consensus, member countries will have to take this decision -- I hope, not long from now -- on their own, independently and with responsibility," Morawiecki concluded.

Last year, the European Commission proposed an EU tax on big Digital firms' online revenues, arguing that companies funneled profit through states with the lowest tax levels. The idea was met with resistance by several EU member states, leading France and Germany to propose a watered-down version at the end of last year. Even so, the necessary consensus among member states to put the tax into EU law is still lacking.