India to stand by 'Google Tax'

Indian government officials remain undeterred about equalization levy on non-resident companies offering digital services in India. They are hopeful of levying the digital services tax as several other countries have similar proposals. Additionally, a yet-to-be accepted framework by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has seen the support from over 130 nations.

India expects many other countries to adopt the same position and might not roll back its levy. Still, at the same time, it is also considering the impact of the levy on Indian businesses. The United States Trade Representative has claimed that this Digital Service Tax was unfairly targeting American companies. India, however, stated that the tax would not single out the United States and would be equally levied on all non-domestic organizations. 

Earlier in the year 2020, several international business bodies, whose members include global giants like Walmart, Amazon, Google, Netflix, had approached Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting to defer the 2% tax imposed on non-resident e-commerce companies by at least 9 months due to the crisis triggered by COVID-19 outbreak.