tech
Pocock targets tech giants with proposed $3b data centre tax
Australian senator David Pocock is proposing a five percent levy on large data centres owned or operated by tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google. The tax would apply to facilities drawing more than five megawatts from the national power grid and would raise just under five hundred million dollars over four years. Parliamentary Budget Office modelling shows potential net earnings of almost three billion dollars by the 2036-37 financial year. Pocock says the levy would offset the federal budget's entire annual spending on new social and affordable housing through the Housing Australia Future Fund. He argues some hyperscale tech companies pay company tax rates of only one to four percent while offshoring billions in revenue. Industry group Data Centres Australia warns the levy could scare investors away from an already expensive local market. The proposal comes as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft have pledged around forty-five billion dollars in local data centre investment.
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Pocock targets tech giants with proposed $3b data centre tax
Australian senator David Pocock is proposing a five percent levy on large data centres owned or operated by tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google. The tax would apply to facilities drawing more than five megawatts from the national power grid and would raise just under five hundred million dollars over four years. Parliamentary Budget Office modelling shows potential net earnings of almost three billion dollars by the 2036-37 financial year. Pocock says the levy would offset the federal budget's entire annual spending on new social and affordable housing through the Housing Australia Future Fund. He argues some hyperscale tech companies pay company tax rates of only one to four percent while offshoring billions in revenue. Industry group Data Centres Australia warns the levy could scare investors away from an already expensive local market. The proposal comes as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft have pledged around forty-five billion dollars in local data centre investment.