The additional charges are to cover the equalisation levy that was introduced by the Indian government last year, which led to pushback from US big tech lobbies. Google will start charging foreign ad buyers for advertisements that are shown in India, even if the viewers of the ads are not Indian, the Economic Times first reported. Google confirmed the development to MediaNama, sharing the following statement: From 1st October 2021, we’ll be adding a surcharge to the invoices we send to non-Indian customers whose ads are viewed in India. The surcharge is to cover part of the costs associated with complying with the Indian Equalisation Levy, which only impacts non-Indian advertisers. We will continue to pay all the taxes due in India and elsewhere. Why it matters? Even as the Equalisation Levy faces pushback from the private sector and the US government, in the absence of a global tax deal that would define what steps countries can and cannot take to tax Big Tech companies, Google's compliance with the legislation sets an important precedent that other tech companies may be forced to follow. Pushback against the levy The Equalisation Levy was introduced in April 2020 as a tax on foreign tech companies' profits earned in India. This tax impacts the following: Sales to customers based in India Advertisements viewed in India, even if these ads are sold to customers abroad Sale of data on Indian residents to people residing elsewhere [caption id="attachment_127342" align="aligncenter" width="1094"] Source: US Trade Representative[/caption] The levy has…
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