Austria’s Digital Advertising Tax Passes First Vote

Austrian lawmakers in the country’s lower chamber backed legislation that would levy a 5% digital advertising tax on tech giants like Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google.

Austria is on a growing list of European countries pursuing unilateral measures to tax the digital revenue of tech companies. France has already passed a 3% tax on revenue generated from online advertising, sales of user data, and third-party platforms.

Lawmakers in the National Council passed the tax in a Sept. 19 session as part of a broader tax package. The proposed tax will next move on to Austria’s Federal Council.

The tax ...