Page 15 - SpectrumOctober2018

charge sales taxes on ads and a representative for Uber Can-
Facebook to charge GST on online ads ada said it already applies sales taxes on all of its rides and
Facebook and Instagram will charge the goods and services food delivery orders in the country.
tax on online advertisements purchased through their Cana-
dian operations, but other technology giants said they aren't Google referred The Canadian Press to statements the com-
ready to follow suit just yet. pany made back in May indicating that it would comply with

The U.S.-based social media networks said they decided to ap- legislation, should the federal government create regulations
ply the taxes by mid-2019 in an effort to "provide more trans- to require the collection of such taxes on digital sales.
parency to governments and policy makers around the world The company noted that it already plans to comply with simi-
who have called for greater visibility over the revenue associ- lar legislation Quebec passed around its sales tax.
ated with locally supported sales in their countries."
Meanwhile, streaming service Netfl ix said only that it "pays all
The federal government has long faced pressure to force for- taxes when required by law."
eign online services to apply sales taxes to their work, but
has shied away from such measures, despite its international Short-term rental company Airbnb previously asked the fed-
trade committee urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make eral government for regulation around taxes.
online services pay the taxes so small- and medium-sized "We think as a platform our hosts should pay taxes. I know
businesses don't lose customers to larger fi rms based abroad.
people get shocked when we say that, but we do. We think we
The decision to charge the taxes could create a windfall for the should be contributing," Alex Dagg, Airbnb's public policy man-
federal government and bring it closer to the 2020 deadline it ager in Canada, said in an interview.
set with other G20 countries to develop an international tax "We just need to fi gure out what are the appropriate rules in
plan to address companies that are based in one country but place to do that and how can we facilitate that."
have the potential to pay taxes in another.

In the wake of Facebook and Instagram's announcement, a With fi les from Jordan Press in Ottawa
spokesperson for Twitter Canada said it does not currently By The Canadian Press

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