France Likely To Add €500 Million Annually By Taxing Internet Giants

A 3% tax on French revenue concerning large-scale internet companies can possibly yield nearly 500 million euros or $568.3 million annually. These figures were made public on Sunday by the Finance Minister of France, Bruno Le Maire.

In an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien, Le Maire commented that the tax will aim at companies that have a global digital revenue of 750 million or higher as well as French revenue of at least 25 million euros. Further, he said that the tax will be targeted at approximately 30 companies. Most of these companies would be American. In addition, they will also comprise German, British, Chinese and Spanish firms, along with one France-based firm and a number of companies with their origins in France that have later been purchased by foreign organizations.

This paper enlisted the golden quadrangle of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple, along with the likes of Airbnb, Booking, Uber and Criteo as their prime targets. Criteo, on its part, is a France-based online company that specializes in advertising.

According to Le Maire, they are looking to build a brand new taxation system customized for 21^st century based on data, since data is of prime value in the present world. He also commented that it is a matter concerning fiscal justice, considering that the digital tycoons pay roughly 14% point lower taxes as compared to small or medium-sized enterprises based in European countries.

A growing demand for fairer taxes have been pivotal in the protests of “yellow vest” that have been noted throughout France in the span of the last three months. As per Le Maire, this tax would seek at targeting platform companies which earn commissions via putting firms in contact with customers. On the other hand, companies that sell their products via their own sites, including the likes of Darty, would be exempted from being targeted. Darty is a French retailer and deals in selling washing machines and TVs on its website.