Insurance Europe has today published its response to a consultation by the European Commission on its proposals for a digital levy.
The distribution of taxing rights between countries should be tackled globally, to avoid tariff wars. Any EU proposal should therefore be based on the solution agreed at the level of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to avoid overlaps and the risk of double taxation and layering of additional taxes.
Furthermore, a possible taxation of digital businesses and activities should not hinder the ongoing digitalisation of the economy. It is important to highlight that, while insurers and reinsurers do not have highly digitalised business models, data is crucial to their activities.
Insurance is already subject to indirect taxes based on the location of the risk being covered, which often coincides with the location of the user. These include premium taxes, whose economic costs are significant for the whole industry. Any additional taxation will therefore likely result in increased costs for consumers.