Taxation in the Data Economy: The ‘Invisible’ Competition

The individual is both the creator and user of her own data. Companies collect personal data, use it for various purposes like improving products and anticipating consumer behavior, and return those benefits to consumers. 

Big Tech’s multi-faceted uses of data generate new economic value, prompting questions on how consumers can be fairly compensated. Some experts raised the idea of a tax on enterprises that collect mass amounts of private information. One facet of taxation often left unaddressed is data commodification beyond borders. As Future Agendanotes,

Principles that tie tax to physical presence are no longer appropriate for a world in which California-based tech companies can sell services in Spain through a Dublin-registered subsidiary and so pay little or no tax.

Data collection by large corporations reveals a range of purposes, ranging from altruism to economic exploitation, and at times resulting in the violation of privacy. The growing…