Inline Insights

While discussions continue on the European Commission’s proposals for a harmonised Digital Services Tax, a number of different approaches to taxing online service providers and platforms is emerging across Europe.  With the UK the latest EU country to consider going it alone, we look at who is proposing what when it comes to digital services taxes.

TechCrunch estimates the immersive tech industry will be worth $108 billion in 2021. Citi estimate $569 billion by 2025. But despite these staggering projections, many people’s understanding of the technologies fails to extend beyond the viral sensation of Pokemon Go.

Yesterday the UK Government's panel conducting a review of competition in digital markets met for the first time at the Treasury in London. The terms of reference, which were published to accompany the meeting, provide initial questions that illustrate the breadth of this review and why the tech sector needs to take it seriously.

In his keynote address to the TUC Congress, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has called for gig economy workers to be given full employment rights. He promised that a Labour Government would go beyond all the “positive recommendations in the Taylor report” and extend sick pay, parental leave, or protections against unfair dismissal to gig economy workers.

Back in May of 2018, Her Majesty’s Government announced to great fanfare that the maximum permitted stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) will be cut from £100 to £2. This was hailed as an important move towards protecting the most vulnerable problem gamblers that frequent high street betting shops.

Jeremy Wright MP succeeds an unquestionably pro-technology Secretary of State for Digital, but his lack of previous interest in the sector may actually be a good thing for the tech industry.

As the 29 March 2019 deadline for when the UK is due to leave the EU gets closer and closer, a lot remains to be finalised. In this diagram we have mapped the various paths to ‘exit day’ and explore the range of potential outcomes.

MEPs ask thousands of questions to the European Commission each year and during the 2009-2014 term of the European Parliament, over 10,000 questions were tabled. At Inline, our job is to cut through the noise, so here are the five most important questions for the tech sector from the past 12 months.

While many see Theresa May’s regular battles with both wings of her party as the government lurching from crisis to crisis, it is starting to look more like a deliberate strategy. What does this tell us about Downing Street’s strategy for the negotiations with the EU?