The French National Assembly approves a proposed tax of €0.055 per gigabyte of data transferred to users in France, targeting major global digital companies including Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Akami. The amendment, introduced by Socialist MP Lauren Hardith, passed by 11 votes to 10, with 14 abstentions. Main provisions of the proposed tax: - Tax rate: €0.055 (€5.5 cents) per gigabyte of data transferred to French internet users. - Targeted companies: large digital platforms and content providers, with Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Akamai accounting for half of the covered data traffic. - Collection mechanism: ISPs would measure data volumes and report them quarterly to France's tax authorities under the supervision of ARCEP and the General Directorate of Public Finance. - Tax liability: the companies that produced the data traffic will pay the tax, not internet service providers. - Tax ceiling: the liability will be limited to the higher of 15% of the company's revenues in France or 2% of its global turnover. - Privacy protections: the system will record the company's identities and the amount of data without accessing the content of the communication or tracking individual users. - CDNs: Data delivered through content delivery networks will also be counted, based on their total outbound traffic. The move could generate about 10 billion euros a year, based on about 200 billion gigabytes of annual data traffic for subscribers in France. The measure is an amendment adopted to the 2027 Finance Bill, not yet a fully enacted tax. Follow:

The French National Assembly approves a proposed tax of €0.055 per gigabyte of data transferred to users in France, targeting major global digital companies including Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Akami. The amendment, introduced by Socialist MP Lauren Hardith, passed by 11 votes to 10, with 14 abstentions. Main provisions of the proposed tax: - Tax rate: €0.055 (€5.5 cents) per gigabyte of data transferred to French internet users. - Targeted companies: large digital platforms and content providers, with Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Akamai accounting for half of the covered data traffic. - Collection mechanism: ISPs would measure data volumes and report them quarterly to France's tax authorities under the supervision of ARCEP and the General Directorate of Public Finance. - Tax liability: the companies that produced the data traffic will pay the tax, not internet service providers. - Tax ceiling: the liability will be limited to the higher of 15% of the company's revenues in France or 2% of its global turnover. - Privacy protections: the system will record the company's identities and the amount of data without accessing the content of the communication or tracking individual users. - CDNs: Data delivered through content delivery networks will also be counted, based on their total outbound traffic. The move could generate about 10 billion euros a year, based on about 200 billion gigabytes of annual data traffic for subscribers in France. The measure is an amendment adopted to the 2027 Finance Bill, not yet a fully enacted tax. Follow: