The situation
Advertising and platform revenue by country and by revenue line
A Dutch-headquartered ad-tech group runs a programmatic advertising platform. After an acquisition, its consolidated worldwide revenue is approaching the level that several digital services taxes use. Revenue from advertising shown to users in France, Spain, Austria and Italy is growing fastest.
The CFO needs to know before the next forecast whether any of these taxes will apply, and to what. Each defines the taxable services, the group thresholds and the location of users differently. The work is matching the group’s revenue lines to four sets of definitions, and showing the board what changes once a threshold is crossed.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- The taxes differ in scope
- France, Spain and Italy tax revenue from digital advertising and from digital intermediation, among other services. Austria’s tax covers online advertising services only. The same revenue line can be in scope in one country and out in another.
- Thresholds are tested at group level
- Each tax applies only above revenue thresholds tested on the group, worldwide and in some cases in the country. A small local entity can be in scope because of the group it belongs to.
- User location drives the base
- The taxable share is linked to users located in the country, generally by the location of the device. How location is determined and evidenced is set by each national law.
- The rules have kept changing
- Several countries have adjusted their digital services taxes since introducing them, and international talks on their future continue. The research confirms the rules in force for the year in question.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
Ad-tech group whose consolidated revenue is approaching the worldwide thresholds after an acquisition. We earn programmatic advertising revenue from users in France, Spain, Austria and Italy. Which digital services taxes could apply, which revenue lines are in scope, how is user location determined, and what thresholds apply in each?
You start with
Advertising and platform revenue by country and by revenue line
- 01
Describe the revenue lines
Give each revenue line, how it is earned and the forecast group revenue. azta searches the French, Spanish, Austrian and Italian legislation.
Cited research· Free - 02
Read the definitions in the original
Open each country’s definitions of taxable services and of user location in the reader, with their in-force status.
Atlas statute reader - 03
Draft the exposure memo
Ask for a table by country and revenue line, with thresholds and the location rule, and a short memo above it. Edit it in Canvas.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro - 04
Export for the board
Export the memo to Word for the board pack and the local advisors.
Word export· Pro You send
A memo on digital services tax exposure in France, Spain, Austria and Italy
What you get
A memo on digital services tax exposure in France, Spain, Austria and Italy
Exposure memo · draft
Digital services taxes: exposure after the acquisition
Scope. Our programmatic advertising revenue falls within the advertising services taxed in all four countries. Our reporting product, sold to advertisers on subscription, is outside the Austrian tax and needs further review in the other three.
Thresholds. Each tax applies only once the group passes its worldwide threshold and, where there is one, its national threshold. On the current forecast, the worldwide test would be met in the first full year after the acquisition. The national tests are set out by country in the annex.
Next steps. Finance should be able to split revenue by user location for each country, using the method each law prescribes, from the first year in which the group may be in scope.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
12 minutes a month
At €140 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 32
- Capacity at your rate
- €4,536
- More DST exposure reviews a quarter
- 0.8
- Return on Pro
- 14×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoWhat stays with you
- Group revenue figures and the user-location data.
- The forecast and the recommendation to the board.
- Registration and filing, which stay with local advisors.
Frequently asked questions
- Does azta follow the international negotiations?
- It holds legislation, EU law and published decisions, not news. It tells you what is in force and from when; negotiations need following separately.
- Can it compare the four taxes in one table?
- Yes. Ask for a comparison by scope, thresholds and location rule. Each cell cites the national provision.
- Do other countries have similar taxes?
- Ask about the country by name and azta researches its national law.
