Polyown Think Tank

Digital Tax and its impact on Economic Welfare   Digital tax is being contemplated by various economies, globally.   A few jurisdictions where it is about to be enforced after stakeholder consultation is the EU, Asia and the Pacific and is already in place in United States of America.   Currently, permanent establishment of digital companies is largely concentrated in the US. Corporations and customers are charged for the goods and services, rendered and consumed, respectively.   Digital taxes favor the governments whereas consumers are at a comparable disadvantage due to a possibility of double taxation, that is, they have to pay taxes to their home country and also to the foreign jurisdiction where the company may have its incorporation.   The Australian Treasurer according to the Australian Financial Review 2018 stated:   “The absence and delay in arriving at a multilateral solution will only continue to invite unilateral action by individual

Covid-19: Unemployment and Human Realities   Unemployment post Covid-19 outbreak has risen phenomenally, globally. The demographics affected most by the pandemic are women and youth. According to OECD June 2020 news release, unemployment among women rose to 9.1% compared to 7.9% among men. Youth unemployment has risen to 17.6%. These estimates indicate a rise of greater than 3% among the affected category from previous years estimates. These figures are higher in rest of the world.   The International Labor Organization report post Covid-19 indicates that regionally, the Americas are worst hit by unemployment, where hourly work has fallen 18.3% followed by 13.9% in Europe, 13.5% in Asia and the Pacific, 13.2% in Arab states and 12.1% in Africa. The sectors worst hit are informal sectors such as the gig economy and service-industry staff with no social protections, migrant, agricultural, or shift workers in the developing world. These may just be numbers but