TAX FIGHT — The Trudeau government sees Canada as a champion of multilateralism, a convenor of like-minded nations, a team player that doesn't go it alone on the world stage. Except, maybe, possibly, when it comes to taxing tech giants. — In brief: OECD nations are negotiating a global digital service tax that would force major tech companies — Amazon, Apple, Google, ahem, Meta — to cough up tax dollars in the jurisdictions in which they operate. It's the first phase of a so-called "two pillar" approach that aims to produce a global minimum tax on large multinational corporations. The digital services tax would boost revenue in more than 140 countries that have signed on to the idea — a boon to treasuries the world over, if enacted. Canada's problem: there's no clear timeline on implementation of the first pillar. Almost everyone at the table agreed Wednesday to delay imposing new unilateral taxes on the giants in their midst as they continue to work out details. The revised plan is for the treaty to go live in 2025. Five countries opposed the delay: Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Canada. Of that rump of holdouts, only Ottawa is planning to introduce its own domestic tax. — The Canadian take: Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND first promised a digital services tax in 2021, when negotiations had already dragged on for eight years. Freeland's hope when she presentedtabled that April budget was that a global deal would wrap up in short order. If not, Canada would go it alone in 2024. The minister didn't hide her Plan B. "While Canada’s hope and preference is for a multilateral solution this summer, whether or not a deal is reached, Canada intends to take action," read the budget. Fast forward to Budget 2023: "It is Canada’s hope and expectation that the timely implementation of the new multilateral system will make a digital services tax unnecessary." The federal government is aiming to implement a tax as of Jan. 1. — The latest lines: “Canada’s strong and essential social safety net is built on a robust national tax base, which depends on those who do business in Canada paying their fair share of tax," Freeland said in a Wednesday statement. "Canada has a clear national interest in the two-pillar plan, which protects against the erosion of Canada’s tax base and which will generate additional revenue for Canada." Any further delay, she said, "puts Canada at a disadvantage relative to countries which have continued collecting revenue under their pre-existing [digital services taxes]." — 31: The number of countries that have already enacted similar taxes, according to a June 2023 KPMG analysis — Sound off: MEGAN FUNKHOUSER, senior director of policy, trade and tax at the Washington-based Information Technology Industry Council, called Canada's decision "deeply disappointing, particularly given the pace and breadth of activity to develop a multilateral approach." A unilateral tax, Funkhouser claimed, "would undermine ongoing negotiations and further fragment the international tax system.” — The stakes: "Decision makers fear that a global trade war will erupt without the accord in place. Governments would start taxing U.S. digital giants on the profits they make within their borders, resulting in retaliatory measures out of Washington and an eventual breakdown of global tax cooperation," writes POLITICO's BJARKE SMITH-MEYER. At a recent bilateral meeting, U.S. Trade Representative KATHERINE TAI urged Trade Minister MARY NG not to go it alone. — Days remaining until Jan. 1: 172 | 
