Why ‘Digital Taxes’ Are the New Trade War Flashpoint

Big internet companies have long been the target of complaints that they don’t pay enough in taxes. Fed up, France became the first country to introduce a “digital tax” — a 3% levy on the digital revenue of companies that make their sales primarily in cyberspace, such as Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. Other nations are also targeting companies — many of which are American — that have multinational earnings that often escape the taxman’s grip. The U.S. has threatened retaliatory tar