photo by Jin Rong for China Daily

According to a new bill unveiled by the France government on March 6,2019, the government has planned to tax science technology and Internet giants at 3 percent, which could yield 500 million EUR per yield for the government.

Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire described the levy as “fiscal justice for our fellow citizens” based on the fact that the average effective tax rate of 9.5 percent for Internet giants is 14%, less than that of traditional minor and medium enterprises.

In Le Maire’s introduction, the taxable items of the new digital tax cover the incomes of online advertisements, agency for users and income from the sale of user information, set at the tax rate of 3%. All the enterprises whose yearly revenue reach over 750,000,000 EUR for international business and over 25,000,000 EUR for French operating income.

30 more Internet and science technology giants will be severely affected including Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. Due to data analysis, the new tax will bring a yearly yield of 500,000,000 EUR to French government.

In March, 2018, the European Commission published a legislation proposal which is scheduled to modify the tax regulation on Internet giants. According to the proposal, every EU member can tax its domestic Internet business instead of permitting Internet companies to pay tax in the countries where their headquarters are located. However, the proposal was not passed due to the indifferent attitude of Germany and resolute oppositions by the low-rate countries including Luxembourg and Ireland.

March 8, 2019

Source: CCTV Finance