France's Assembly Backs 5.5-Cent Per-Gigabyte Tax on Streaming

The French National Assembly adopted amendment I-1358 to the 2027 finance bill on Friday, 30 October. It creates a tax of €0.055 per gigabyte of data sent to internet users in France. The vote was tight, 11 to 10, and went ahead despite opposition from the government and the budget's general rapporteur. Socialist MP Laurent Lhardit tabled the text.

The tax targets the companies that send the data: video platforms, social networks and content distributors. Users would not be taxed directly, and neither would internet providers. Providers would act as meters, measuring the volumes delivered to subscribers under the supervision of the regulator Arcep and the tax authorities, without looking at content or destination. Under the proposal, downloading a 100 GB game would cost Steam or the PlayStation Store €5.50 in tax. The tax is capped at 15% of French revenue or 2% of worldwide revenue.

Up to €10 billion a year

The authors expect up to €10 billion annually. They rely on an Arcep estimate of 200 billion gigabytes sent to French subscribers each year, half of it from five players: Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Akamai. At 5.5 cents, that volume gives €11 billion before the caps.

On paper the target is big tech, but nothing prevents Netflix, Disney+ or a game publisher from passing the cost on in French subscription prices. The rate is also high: wholesale transport of a gigabyte generally costs under one cent, so the tax is more than five times that. Arcep puts average fixed-line use at 267 GB a month in early 2026, which would mean a theoretical €14.70 monthly tax per connection.

Because subscriptions are flat-priced while the tax grows with every hour watched, heavy viewers would cost platforms more. They could raise prices, accept lower margins, or compress video harder and cut resolution, an effect the amendment openly presents as an environmental benefit.

What happens next

The amendment is only one step. Deputies still have to vote on the whole revenue section of the finance bill, then the text goes to the Senate, which can delete or rewrite the measure. The government can also drop it by using article 49.3 to adopt a version of the budget without the amendment. If it survives, a decree must still define how gigabytes are measured and collected.