Germany is considering a 10% services tax on large online platforms like Facebook parent company Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google. Meta stock was flat in morning trading while Google traded slightly lower.
Germany's minister of state for culture told German magazine Stern that the country is considering the 10% tax.
"The major American digital platforms such as Alphabet/Google, Meta and Co. are on my agenda," Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer told Stern, according to Politico. "We consider a tax rate of 10 percent to be moderate and legitimate."
Germany would not be the first with such a tax. The U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Austria and, most recently, Canada enforce taxes on digital services.
President Donald Trump has pushed back on such taxes. The Trump-backed "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives, includes a provision increasing tax rates for individuals and companies from countries whose tax policies the U.S. deems "discriminatory."
Trump also in February called on his trade chief to investigate potential tariffs on imports from countries that collect digital services tax from U.S. companies.
Meta Stock: Potential Digital Services Tax
Brian Wieser, an analyst and founder of consultancy Madison and Wall, estimates Germany contributes around $10 billion in annual revenue for Google. He estimated the country represents about $5 billion in revenue for Meta.
"Needless to say, the absolute impact of a 10% digital sales tax in Germany will be much more significant than a 5% tax in the relatively small Austrian market, let alone one in the much bigger U.K. market at a relatively modest 2% rate," Wieser wrote in a Substack post for Madison and Wall.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a tech-focused trade group that includes Meta and Google as members, warned Thursday that the move will only "exacerbate trade tensions."
"We urge Germany to reconsider this ill-advised proposal," Jonathan McHale, CCIA's vice president of digital trade, said in a news release. "There is bipartisan agreement in the United States that digital services taxes are discriminatory, undermine U.S. exports, and attack the U.S. tax base."
On the stock market today, Meta stock was trading flat near 644.92. Google was down a fraction at 170.63.
Google is trading near its 200-day moving average, according to IBD MarketSurge. Meta stock, meanwhile, recently formed a cup-with-handle chart pattern with an entry at 662.67.
