U.S. eyes flurry of new taxes on Amazon, Facebook and Google, trying to force tech to pay its ‘fair share’

State lawmakers across the country are exploring a range of new taxes targeting Amazon, Facebook, Google and other Internet giants, seeking to capture some of Silicon Valley’s eye-popping profits and soaring share prices in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

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New York lawmakers have put forward a raft of similar proposals as they stare down a massive $20 billion revenue shortfall over the next four years. Others in the state have sought to return the tech industry’s record-breaking profits back to the people, believing that the public should share more directly in the financial gains generated from their personal data. A bill from Sen. Kevin Thomas (D), for example, taxes tech giants to set up a new program for undergraduate students so that they can refinance their college debts at friendlier interest rates.

“Data is the new commodity out there,” said Thomas, who serves on a key tax-focused panel in Albany. “It gives companies the advantage in the market, and they make billions of dollars on it. And they’re not paying a penny to the people or the state.”

Read the full story in the Washington Post