Last Thursday, the French Senate passed a digital services tax, which would impose an entirely new tax on large multinationals that provide digital services to consumers or users in France. Digital services include everything from providing a platform for selling goods and services online to targeting advertising based on user data, and the tax applies to gross revenue from such serivces. Many French politicians and media outlets have referred to this as a“GAFA tax," 36.meaning that it is designed to apply primarily to companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon- in other words, multinational tech companies based in the United States.
The digital services tax now awaits the signature of President Emmanuel Macron, who has expressed support for the measure, and it could go into effect within the next few weeks. But it has already sparked significant controversy, with the Unite Sates trade representative opening an investigation into whether the tax discriminates against American companies, 37.which in turn could lead to trade sanctions against France.
The French tax is not just a unilateral move by one country in need of revenue. Instead, the digital services tax is part of a much larger trend, with countries over the past few years proposing or putting in place an alphabet soup of new international tax provisions. These have included Britain's DPT (diverted profits tax), Australia's MAAL (multinational anti avoidance law), and India's SEP (significant economic presence) test, to name but a few. At the same time, the European Union, Spain, Britain and several other countries have all seriously contemplated digital services taxes.
These unilateral developments differ in their specifics, but they are all designed to tax multinationals on income and revenue that countries believe they should have a right to tax, even if international tax rules do not grant them that right. In other words, 38.they all share a view that the international tax system has failed to keep up with the current economy.
In response to these many unilateral measures, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is currently working with 131 countries to reach a consensus by the end of 2020 on an international solution. Both France and the United States are involved in the organization' s work, but France's digital services tax and the American 39.response raise questions about what the future holds for the international tax system.
France‘s planned tax is a clear warning: Unless a broad consensus can be reached on reforming the international tax system, other nations are likely to follow suit, and American companies will face a cascade of different taxes from dozens of nations that will prove burdensome and costly.
36. The French Senate has passed a bill to_____
A. regulate digital services platforms.
B. protect French companies' interests .
C. impose a levy on tech multinationals.
D. curb the influence of advertising.
37. It can be learned from Paragraph 2 that the digital services tax _____
A. may trigger countermeasures against France.
B. is apt to arouse criticism at home and abroad.
C. aims to ease international trade tensions.
D. will prompt the tech giants to quit France.
38. The countries adopting the unilateral measures share the opinion that _____
A. redistribution of tech giants' revenue must be ensured.
B. the current international tax system needs upgrading.
C. tech multinationals' monopoly should be prevented.
D. all countries ought to enjoy equal taxing rights.
39. It can be learned from Para 5 that the OECO's current work_____
A. is being resisted by US companies.
B. needs to be readjusted immediately.
C. is faced with uncertain prospects.
D. needs to in involve more countries.
40. Which of the following might be the. best title for this text?
A. France Is Confronted with Trade Sanctions
B. France leads the charge on Digital Tax
C. France Says "NO" to Tech Multinationals
D. France Demands a Role in the Digital Economy
答案：CABCB
上周四，法国参议院通过了一项数字服务税，将对向法国消费者或用户提供数字服务的大型跨国公司征收全新的税。数字服务包括从提供在线销售商品和服务的平台到基于用户数据的定向广告的所有内容，税收适用于此类服务的总收入。许多法国政界人士和媒体将其称为“GAFA 税”，这意味着它主要适用于谷歌、苹果、Facebook 和亚马逊等公司——换句话说，是总部设在美国的跨国科技公司。
数字服务税现在等待总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙的签署，他已表示支持该措施，并且可能在未来几周内生效。但它已经引发了重大争议，美国贸易代表开始调查该税收是否歧视美国公司，这反过来可能导致对法国的贸易制裁。
法国征税不仅仅是一个需要税收的国家的单方面举措。相反，数字服务税是一个更大趋势的一部分，过去几年各国提出或实施了新的国际税收规定的字母汤。其中包括英国的 DPT（转移利润税）、澳大利亚的 MAAL（跨国反避税法）和印度的 SEP（重要经济存在）测试，仅举几例。与此同时，欧盟、西班牙、英国等几个国家都在认真考虑数字服务税。
这些单边发展在具体情况上有所不同，但它们都旨在就各国认为他们应该有权征税的收入和收入对跨国公司征税，即使国际税收规则没有授予他们这种权利。换句话说，他们都认为国际税收体系未能跟上当前的经济发展。
针对上述诸多单边措施，经济合作与发展组织（OECD）目前正与131个国家合作，争取在2020年底前就国际解决方案达成共识。法国和美国都参与了该组织的工作，但法国的数字服务税和美国的回应引发了对国际税收体系未来前景的质疑。
法国的税收计划是一个明确的警告：除非就改革国际税收制度达成广泛共识，否则其他国家很可能会效仿，美国公司将面临来自数十个国家的一系列不同税收，这将证明是繁重的和昂贵的。
36. 法国参议院通过了一项法案给____
A. 规范数字服务平台。
B. 保护法国公司的利益。
C. 对科技跨国公司征税。
D.遏制广告的影响。
37. 从第 2 段可知，数字服务税 _____
A. 可能引发针对法国的反制措施。
B. 容易在国内外引起批评。
C.旨在缓解国际贸易紧张局势。
D. 将促使科技巨头退出法国。
38. 采取单边措施的国家都认为_____
A. 必须确保科技巨头收入的重新分配。
B. 当前的国际税收体系需要升级。
C. 应防止科技跨国公司的垄断。
D. 所有国家都应该享有平等的征税权。
39. 从第 5 段可以看出，OECO 目前的工作_____
A. 受到美国公司的抵制。
B. 需要立即重新调整。
C. 面临着不确定的前景。
D. 需要涉及更多国家。
40. 以下哪项可能是。这篇文章的最佳标题？
A. 法国面临贸易制裁
B. 法国带头征收数字税
C. 法国对跨国科技公司说“不”
D. 法国要求在数字经济中发挥作用
以上是阅读题各个问题的答案所对应的句子及全文翻译，祝各位考生都能考上心仪的学校
