14 DAY TRIAL // Tech giants like Google and Apple might be trying to extend the grasp of their dominion outside the US boarders, but some countries are putting up a wall, refusing to give in to the charms of Western technology.
Not so long ago, we told you about the controversial “made-in Indonesia” smartphone law, which stipulates that tablets and smartphones sold in the country must have at least 40% of their parts produced locally, within the country’s borders.
But Indonesia is not the only country looking to break away from the dominion of Apple and Google. Recently, a Russian politician accused Google of holding unfair monopoly on the mobile market with its Android operating system.
According to an older report, the country is apparently willing to offer grants to developers so they can start migrating apps to open-source platforms such as Ubuntu, Tizen or Sailfish.
Russia wants Google and Apple to pay more taxes
And Russia’s discontent with Google and Apple seems to be going even deeper. A new report coming out of Vedomosti claims that authorities might force the two companies to pay more taxes in the country.
It seems that Russia is trying to take advantage of the new European Union regulations that will apparently force suppliers of digital products to collect sale taxes based on the location of the consumer, not based on the location of the supplier.
The new laws are meant to stop foreign tech companies from making outrageous profits and taking advantage of low-tax jurisdictions, like in the case of Luxemburg.
This is the case of Russia as well, as content sold by Apple, Google and the likes is not being taxed by the local government because it's provided by foreign companies.
The second reason why Apple and Google might be forced to pay more taxes in the country is Yandex. Russia’s top search engine has filed a complaint with the authorities highlighting the fact that Google forces device makers to make its search engine the default solution on their products so that they can be granted access to Google Play.
According to the current report, Google is paying a lot less in terms of taxes compared to Yandex ($8 / €7 million compared to $53 / €48 million in 2013).
Russian authorities are currently (only) discussing the matter, but don’t be surprised if the laws in the country are changed soon, leaving Apple and Google in a very uncomfortable position.