Barcelona to impose public space tax on delivery firms

Barcelona City Council is set to introduce what it calls a “pioneering tax” to regulate the use of public space by large e-commerce delivery companies.

The charge, which has been dubbed the ‘Amazon tax’ as it will mainly affect the retailer, is expected to generate up to €2.6 million (US$2.77 milion) a year and would be the first of its kind in Spain.

“We want local traders to have equal fiscal conditions compared to the major e-commerce platforms, who have a very high market share,” Jaume Collboni, Barcelona City Council’s economy chief, told Spanish publication El Diario.

The council says that the increase in parcel deliveries by large delivery operators, particularly since the pandemic, has had a negative impact on traffic congestion and pollution and resulted in an imbalance in competition with local shops and businesses.

It is expected the measure will be voted on in February 2023, before potentially coming into force in March.

The new tax will be applied only to companies that exceed €1 million in annual gross income.

The Amazon model

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has previously criticised the US multinational, saying “the Amazon model is unsustainable both in social and ecological terms.”

“To carry out massive home deliveries, large e-commerce companies fill the cities with cars, congesting the streets, polluting the air and putting local commerce at risk…their model is based on mostly precarious work, and often they don’t even pay taxes where they operate,” she said.

When contacted by Cities Today, an Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the mayor’s statements.

Referring to the new tax, the spokesperson said the company would “wait until we see the actual text of the regulation and the results of the public consultation organised by the City Council of Barcelona [before we] share Amazon’s assessment.”

Colorado fee

While some countries have moved to enact digital services taxes that target e-commerce firms, specific charges on road usage are still rare.

In July, the US state of Colorado began imposing a US$0.27 fee for all road deliveries, which is projected to raise US$1.2 billion over the next decade.

The move was a result of legislation passed last year aimed at boosting revenue for Colorado road projects, along with transit and electric vehicle programmes.

The new fees also affect ridehailing services such as Lyft and Uber (US$0.30), diesel fuel purchases (US$0.02 cents per gallon), carshare rentals lasting longer than 24 hours (US$2 per day), and owners of electric and hybrid vehicles (the fees vary).

Image: christian-wiediger-unsplash