The Digital Markets Act as an EU Digital Tax: When Compliance Costs Dwarf Regulatory Estimates
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) has emerged as one of the most consequential pieces of digital regulation in recent years. While officially presented as pro-competition legislation designed to ensure fair and open digital markets, mounting evidence suggests the DMA functions as a de facto digital tax on American technology companies. This analysis draws on insights from recent DMA workshops with the companies designated as “gatekeepers” by the EU Commission (detailed analysis available here) to reveal how the staggering gap between initial regulatory cost estimates and actual compliance burdens, combined with enforcement threats that go far beyond monetary fines, creates a regulatory regime that operates as a tax on and a protectionist industrial policy against successful U.S. companies.