“Consumers are now digital resources that are mined without being paid for.”
The current tax system is no longer adequate because it is not designed for digital business models like Airbnb, Uber, or Amazon. This gives rise to international tax debates, which sometimes raise the question whether we should fall back on ‘old-fashioned’ tax systems. Digital technology, the virtual presence, is new. However, the fundamental cornerstone of taxation - where profits are realized - is not. Even in the Dutch colonial era, a pertinent question was which part of the profits of multinationals could be attributed to the Dutch East Indies and taxed there. Fred van Horzen, partner at KPMG Meijburg & Co, explains.
