France Wants Smartphone Tax To Protect “Cultural Exception”
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The French government is considering a tax on the sale of all Internet-linked mobile devices, including smartphones and e-readers, in order to “protect the nation’s cultural exception … in the face of digital innovation,” reported the Financial Times on Monday.
The French government is considering a tax on the sale of all Internet-linked mobile devices, including smartphones and e-readers, in order to “protect the nation’s cultural exception … in the face of digital innovation,” reported the Financial Times on Monday.
The proposal, which was among several measures recommended by a special culture committee, said that the revenue raised could help fund the production of French art, films and music, whilst arguing that it was legitimate for the authorities to intervene to “correct excessive imbalances” in the digital economy.
“Companies that make these devices must, in a minor way, be made to contribute part of the revenue from their sales to help creators,” said French Culture Minister Aurélie Filippetti.
[quote]”Some players in the digital universe profit from cinematic and audiovisual works, but don’t contribute to their financing… It’s necessary to close fiscal loopholes to restore fairness,” the government panel added in its report, cited by the Wall Street Journal.[/quote]Related: Google An On-Line Advertising Monopoly Says France
Related: Google vs. Newspapers: How France May Have Saved A Dying Industry
Filippetti said that the smartphone tax would be at a “very low level” of up to 4 percent. By just implementing a 1 percent tax, the French government would be able to raise an additional 86 million euros a year, claimed the Culture Minister.
The nine-member special culture committee was set up last year by President Francois Hollande under his “l’exception culturelle” policy. The committee led by former Canal Plus head Pierre Lescure, were tasked with providing recommendations on how France should adapt its commitment to preserving French-language culture in the fast-changing digital era.
Among other recommendations made by the panel include replacing an existing levy on French telecoms operators that helps subsidise film-making with a new tax based on their revenues. According to WSJ, France’s film industry already receives more than 749 million euros in subsidies, drawn from taxes on TV advertising, pay-TV subscriptions and movie-theater tickets.
Filippetti pointed out that the proposed tax would not affect jobs in France as the tech companies who produce these devices employ relatively few people in the country.
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And in a clear signal of how seriously the French government treats its “l’exception culturelle”, President Hollande last month insisted that he would not accept a free trade agreement between the EU and the U.S. if it infringed on French media content.
[quote]”We want to exclude from the deal anything that is about culture… that’s non-negotiable,” said French trade minister Nicole Bricq in a press statement. A European Commission proposal to further open up European culture markets was simply “not acceptable,” she added.[/quote]
