France Wants a 5.5-Cent-per-Gigabyte Tax on Netflix, Google and Meta
The levy targets high-bandwidth platforms and could raise about €10 billion a year, but it still faces Senate review and possible government override.
- On Friday, October 30, 2026, France's National Assembly adopted amendment I-1358 to the 2027 finance bill, establishing a tax on content providers for traffic sent to French internet subscribers.
- Socialist deputy Laurent Lhardit proposed the measure to boost revenue, targeting Netflix, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Akamai, which carry half the traffic Arcep measures annually out of 200 billion gigabytes.
- The amendment imposes a tax of 0.055 euros—about 6.1 U.S. cents—per gigabyte sent to subscribers, with each company's bill capped at 15% of French revenue or 2% of worldwide revenue.
- Passing 11 to 10 with only 35 of the Assembly's 577 deputies participating, the amendment faced skepticism from Public Accounts Minister David Amiel, who questioned whether the tax would work.
- The Senate must still review the bill, though the government could force it through under Article 49.3, while President Trump has threatened tariffs on French digital taxes.
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France’s New Data Tax Targets American Tech
France’s National Assembly has advanced a proposal to tax the data technology companies deliver to French internet users, adding another cost to doing business in Europe. This new tax will likely raise prices for European consumers and is also a direct attack on American companies. On October 30, lawmakers voted 11-10 for Socialist deputy […]
MEPs voted for an amendment to tax digital giants to the tune of 5.5 cents per gigabyte consumed, which could bring 10 billion euros to the state, but which is already a cause for concern among Internet users.
France plans a data tax of 5.5 cents per gigabyte. Netflix, Google and Co. could pass on the costs to customers.
France is debating a new digital tax for each gigabyte downloaded, this is the proposal
On Friday at the Assembly, the amendment to the 2027 budget provides for a tax on digital data producers of EUR 5.5 cents per gigabyte. Many are concerned about the risk of an impact on users' bills.
On social networks, Internet users are concerned about the introduction of a tax for each use of streaming platforms such as Netflix. This is an amendment passed on 30 October and incorporated into the finance bill, but not sure of being in the next budget. - VERIF' - Will an "Internet tax" be levied by the state on every use of Netflix? (New technologies).
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