The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said she is hopeful an international agreement on a digital services tax can be reached following talks at G20 meetings in India, but Canada is not ruling out the possibility of going at it alone on Jan. 1. The Globe's Bill Curry writes that Canada was largely isolated in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) talks in Paris last week after members agreed to another delay in the adoption of a digital services tax (DST). The Liberal government has been holding off on plans to bring in its own DST in the hope of being able to move in tandem with the international community. An earlier federal deadline to bring in a 3-per-cent tax on revenues collected from Canadian users by large on-line providers such as Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms' Facebook had already been pushed back from Jan. 1, 2022, to Jan. 1, 2024. Last week's OECD meetings ended without a firm new timeline for implementing a DST, though talks are expected to continue throughout the year. Ms. Freeland said last week in writing that Ottawa "cannot support the extended standstill," suggesting that plans for the new Canadian tax will go ahead.
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