In Spain a tax on WhatsApp, Skype and Telegram?

Not a real Digital Tax like the one that Europe is preparing to introduce by the end of the year, but a tax on applications and messaging services: it is proposed by Spain as confirmed to the press by Roberto Sanchéz, Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures. Interested are the companies that provide tools dedicated to chats.

A tax on chats: the Spanish idea

The measure, if approved and integrated into the Iberian regulatory system, will concern WhatsApp, Skype, Telegram, Messenger, iMessage and other platforms through which users can have conversations. Madrid intends to ask for 1 euro for every 1,000 euros of revenue generated by this type of service, but only from companies with an annual local turnover exceeding 1,000,000 euros.

According to the Sanchéz statement, the measure is it is necessary because these tools “have changed the way we use communication services”. The text is contained in the Ley General de Telecomunicaciones (General Law on Telecommunications) through which the government intends to modernize the legislative system that regulates the sector taking into account the new dynamics. In October, citizens will be able to provide their opinions on the matter during a public consultation phase and only then will the proposal be submitted to a vote.