France Plans 5% Digital Tax as Governments Chase Internet Giants

(Bloomberg) -- France intends to tax the revenue of about 30 Internet giants such as Amazon.com Inc. to help ensure “fiscal justice,” according to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

The levy of as much as 5 percent of French sales will start Jan. 1 and potentially raise about 500 million euros ($570 million) for the state, Le Maire told Le Parisien newspaper. Under the plan, which the cabinet will discuss on Wednesday, the tax will apply to any company with global revenue of more than 750 million euros and French sales above 25 million euros, Le Maire said.

U.S., Chinese and European companies may meet the levy criteria, including a few French businesses, the report said, as governments grapple with how to tax global Internet giants that can generate huge domestic revenues from limited physical assets. Spain and the U.K. are also working on digital sales taxes, while Europe has so far balked at a continent-wide levy.

France intends to tax revenues from local targeted ads, marketplaces and the re-selling of personal data.

Le Maire said there was no risk of the new measure clashing with a tax agreement between France and the U.S. He discussed the plan with Steven Mnuchin during the U.S. Treasury Secretary’s stop in Paris late last month.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development could eventually draw up a political accord on digital and data taxation, Le Maire said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Steve Geimann at sgeimann@bloomberg.net, Neil Denslow, Bruce Stanley

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