 Monday, 06 September 2010 |
 |
 |
|
|
| |
| Homepage
> French "Creativity & Internet" report suggests to tax online ads and search terms
|
French "Creativity & Internet" report suggests to tax online ads and search terms
A reported entitled “Creativity and Internet” commissioned by the culture minister, Frederic Mitterrand, which recommends an introduction of tax on Internet advertising, was released. The levy is described in the report as a "Google tax" but would also be applied to Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook, as well as other Internet services providers.
The precise form and amount of the tax was not provided for, but the report suggests that the tax be "reasonable" and could initially bring in around €30 million a year. A proposed tax levy should be paid every time a user clicks on an advertising banner or a sponsored link. The report suggests that Internet advertising is not only an issue for France, but also for the whole EU.
The report was drafted by Patrick Zelnik, the head of Impala, the European federation of independent record labels, former culture minister Jacques Toubon and Guillaume Ceruttie, the director of Sotheby's France.
The report can be found here
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/mcc/Actualites/A-la-une/Remise-du-rapport-de-la-mission-creation-et-internet
The revenue raised from the advertising tax would go towards financing schemes for artistic and other cultural works.
The report proposes altogether 22 various measures which aim at facilitating the artistic and cultural works and discourage illegal downloads on the Internet. Other proposals in the report include a music voucher system for young people. It would allow those aged 15-24 to buy tracks and albums at a discount. The cards would cost from €20 to €25 but be worth €50 in digital downloads. The government would back the scheme up to €20 per card, with record companies financing the remaining cost.
French President Nicholas Sarkozy supported the report in a speech on Thursday, although he did not explicitly endorse the “Google tax”.
|
|
|
|
|
|
