Berlin, 29 May 2025 – The eco – Association of the Internet Industry has strongly criticised the proposal by Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer to introduce a digital tax in the form of a “platform solidarity surcharge”.
“Such a tax would place significant burdens on companies with regard to documentation and user tracking to ensure accurate reporting of advertising revenues generated in Germany,” said Oliver Süme, Chair of the Board of eco – Association of the Internet Industry. Süme also expressed doubts that the digital tax would exclusively affect international digital platforms: “Such regulations could also be applied to German companies and services. This is not how to support a growing digital economy,” he explained.
The prospect that US platforms would be impacted by the measure further increases concerns about damaging already strained transatlantic relations. “Weimer is unnecessarily provoking the US government into a response. One can only hope that Germany and the United States do not drift even further apart politically,” said Süme.
Weimer’s proposal also raises broader concerns about the future direction of digital policy in Germany. “We now have a Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs, yet it appears to have been completely sidelined in this matter. A coherent digital policy strategy looks different,” Süme added.
eco has consistently advocated for resolving the issue of an international digital tax at a multilateral level through the OECD framework.
