Slowly but surely, the tax on digital services, the “French-style GAFA tax”, is making its way into the income that counts for the State. It raised 621 million euros in 2022, 700 million are expected this year and 800 next year according to the 2024 finance bill.
Income increases from year to year, “in line with the dynamism of the sector,” explains the General Directorate of Public Finances. Let us remember that the tax deducts 3% of the income generated in France by digital companies that have a turnover of more than 750 million euros worldwide and 25 million euros in France.
More specifically, it targets revenue in three areas: online advertising, exploitation of personal data and sales made on marketplaces. A tailor-made tax so that Google, Facebook and Amazon pay more taxes in France. Bercy does not reveal the complete list of affected companies in the name of tax secrecy, but informs us that in total about forty companies pay the tax.
The tax will appear again in the 2025 budget
Until when remains to be seen. France has always said that it would withdraw its tax when it took over that of the OECD. But the ratification of “pillar 1” of international tax reform will still take a long time. According to our information, the OECD will present the final version of its multilateral agreement in the coming days. It must then be signed by the interested countries and the G20 has committed to doing so before the end of the year. Bercy repeats to BFM Business that France supports this objective.
But the last step is the most delicate: the ratification of the text by the parliaments of the signatory countries. And all countries hope that the United States can do it, because the text must be voted on by two-thirds of the American Congress, where Joe Biden no longer has a majority. It is clear that nothing will change before the next US legislative elections at the end of 2024. Which means, Bercy concludes, that there will be a digital services tax again in the 2025 budget. And given the dynamics of revenues, this time yes, get closer to one billion euros.
Source: BFM TV
