Taxation and multi-sided platforms: a review

Many of the largest and most influential industries in the global economy operate digitally as multi-sided platforms, catering to different groups who are connected through intergroup network effects. This paper provides a survey of the literature on the effects of taxing these firms via indirect and corporate taxes. It seeks to establish an understanding of why traditional insights from taxation in one-sided markets may not apply to firms in multi-sided markets. Indeed, governments risk implementing counterproductive tax policies in multi-sided markets if they base their strategies on what constitutes efficient taxation in traditional markets.