Austria, which has begun easing the severity of its lockdown restrictions, will work to lower the taxes paid by essential workers. At the same time, it should raise those paid by multinationals. Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz said that the government has already pledged up to €38bn in aid to help restart the country’s economy, an amount equivalent to roughly 10 percent of last year’s domestic product. Kurz said that paying people who worked as caregivers, in the security forces, as supermarket employees or many others professions deserved to earn more money and framed the issue as one of social justice. At the same time, he said, domestic production should also be stimulated, so he promised that a tax cut plan would be drawn up for low- and middle-income workers. Austria has already implemented a five percent tax on digital advertising revenue from major international companies, including Google and Facebook.
