The retail trade is dense and online trade is booming: The Corona crisis shows the urgency of a digital tax from the point of view of Greens boss Robert Habeck. “The local shops are closing to protect against pandemics, inner cities are threatened with extinction,” Habeck told the German press agency. “The big online retailers, on the other hand, are doing the business of the century.” But they paid much less tax than the “bookstore around the corner”.

They used infrastructure such as broadband internet and roads, but hardly participated in the financing. “Amazon, Google and Co. really have to contribute to the financing of the infrastructure of the public structures”, demanded Habeck therefore.

Accusation against the federal government The Federal Government and, in particular, Finance Minister and SPD candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz accused the Green leader of not having acted consistently. “The best would of course be a global taxation of digital companies, the second best a European one,” he said. “But if even that doesn’t work, then you have to go ahead together with the partners who want to.” Some countries in the EU have already done so, but Germany did not go along with it.

The CDU / CSU parliamentary group recently came up with the idea of ​​a “parcel delivery” for online retailers who are to finance an “inner city fund” after the Corona shutdown. There was an objection from the retail trade.

(mho)