The top 16 tech companies are collectively making $26.7bn in revenue each year from Australians, a Parliamentary Budget Office analysis has found, as the Greens call for a 3% tax on the biggest players that would bring in more than $11bn.
The analysis, conducted on behalf of the Greens, found in 2022-23 Google made $8.7bn across advertising and cloud services, Microsoft made $2.9bn, Meta made $1.3bn and Amazon made close to $6bn across its range of services.
Under the Greens’ policy proposal, revenue in excess of $20m earned from digital services in Australia would be taxed at a rate of 3%. The platforms would need to be making more than €750m in worldwide revenue to be captured by the policy.
The medium-term revenue for the government under this proposal would be $11.5bn, the costing suggested.
The Greens senator and communications spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, said the funds could be used pay for essential public services such as dental in Medicare and cost-of-living relief.
“We know this works overseas and it can work here,” she said. “At least 12 other countries already have a digital services tax including the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Austria [and] Portugal.”
A major hurdle for any proposed tax on US tech companies, however, will be the Trump administration.
Last month, Trump quietly released a memorandum to the US Treasury secretary about “defending American companies and innovators from overseas extortion and unfair fines and penalties”, which focuses on tech companies – and specifically named Australia.
It warned that countries that “impose a fine, penalty, tax, or other burden that is discriminatory, disproportionate, or designed to transfer significant funds or intellectual property from American companies to the foreign government or the foreign government’s favored domestic entities” would face tariffs and other actions.
“In recent years, the gross domestic product of the United States’ digital economy alone, driven by cutting-edge American technology companies, has been bigger than the entire economy of Australia, Canada, or most members of the European Union,” the order states.
“Instead of empowering their own workers and economies, foreign governments have increasingly exerted extraterritorial authority over American companies, particularly in the technology sector, hindering these companies’ success and appropriating revenues that should contribute to our nation’s wellbeing, not theirs.”
The announcement has already thrown a spanner in the works for the news media bargaining incentive – a tax designed to force social media companies to pay for news – and the Albanese government hasn’t given strong signals the policy will be in place before the election.
Guardian Australia understands the opposition has yet to be briefed by the government on the news media bargaining incentive and has not yet settled on a position.
In Senate estimates last week, the infrastructure deputy secretary, James Chisholm, said the department was aware of the memorandum and said: “We will continue to engage with the administration and with industry to ensure that our respective digital policies are meeting our objectives.”
In regard to trade and tariff policies that could target Australia, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told estimates last week it had taken the former Liberal government “some time” to negotiate carve outs, and the current government would have “an even greater hill to climb” but said there was a “strong case to put to the US administration”.
“We’re very conscious of the policies articulated by President Trump and his administration, and there are many avenues which are being utilised, some of which have been outlined today.”