PARIS: French lawmakers voted in favor of a “YouTube tax” that would apply a 2% levy on all streaming video, and a 10% rate on any online films that are pornographic or capable of inciting violence.
The proposed tax, which passed France’s National Assembly but requires further approval to become law, would also apply to companies like Netflix NFLX 16.52% and Vimeo, and would be calculated based on subscription or advertising revenue.
Karine Berger, a French lawmaker, described the measures to the business paper Le Figaro as part of a plan to extract more revenue from “the GAFA” (shorthand for “Google GOOGL 0.28% , Amazon AMZN -1.22% , Facebook FB 0.48% , Apple”), which she claimed “escaped paying taxes most of the time.” A separate provision would limit the impact of the law on smaller video sites.
The proposal comes as part of a larger attempt by European countries to redress what they regard as unfair tactics by U.S. tech giants to avoid paying a fair share of taxes. Currently, France is demanding Apple AAPL 0.37% pay $14.5 billion in allegedly unpaid back taxes—a claim Apple and U.S. lawmakers are stiffly resisting.
