Termination of Action in the Section 301 Digital Services Tax Investigation of Turkey and Further Monitoring

Issuing agencies

Abstract

On October 8, 2021, Turkey joined the United States and 134 other jurisdictions participating in the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting in reaching a political agreement on a two-pillar solution to address tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the world economy. As part of Pillar 1, all parties agreed to remove existing digital services taxes and other relevant similar measures, and to coordinate the withdrawal of these taxes. On November 22, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) issued a joint statement with Turkey regarding a transitional approach to Turkey's Digital Service Tax (DST) prior to entry into force of Pillar 1. The joint statement reflects a political agreement that DST liabilities accrued during the transitional period will be creditable in defined circumstances against future taxes due under Pillar 1. Based on the commitment of Turkey to remove its DST pursuant to Pillar 1 and on Turkey's political agreement to the transitional approach prior to Pillar 1's entry into force, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined to terminate the section 301 action taken in the investigation of Turkey's DST. In coordination with Treasury, USTR will monitor implementation of the removal of Turkey's DST as provided for under Pillar 1 and the transitional approach as provided in the joint statement.