Additional tax for those who do not pay for news content
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Deputy Treasury Secretary Stephen Jones announced that the tax will be applied to technology companies that generate more than A$250 million (US$160 million) in revenue from Australia annually from January 1, 2025.
These companies include Meta, Google, Alphabet and ByteDance.
The government’s new tax will be offset by money paid to Australian media organisations. The size of the tax is not yet clear.
Deputy Undersecretary of the Treasury Jones said in his statement: “The main goal is not to generate income. We hope we don’t make any revenue. “The main aim is to encourage deal making between platforms and news media businesses in Australia,” he said.
THEY DECIDED NOT TO RENEW THE AGREEMENT
The move comes after Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it would not renew three-year deals to pay Australian news publishers for their content.
The previous government introduced some laws in 2021 that forced tech giants to enter into revenue-sharing agreements with Australian media companies or face fines of 10 percent of their revenues in Australia.