by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels
28 May 2020
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said that the Government intends to introduce a digital services tax this year.
The French DST is a three percent tax on the revenue of digital companies providing advertising services, selling user data for advertising purposes, or performing intermediation services. Companies with global revenues of EUR750m (USD811m) or more and French sales of at least EUR25m are required to pay the tax.
The tax, approved by the French parliament on July 11, 2019, applies to turnover realized in France since January 1, 2019. Le Maire subsequently confirmed that France will suspend collection of the DST until December 2020 to prevent the United States from applying retaliatory tariffs on a range of French goods.
France’s digital services tax would apply in the absence of an international agreement on a global levy, Le Maire said.