Taxing gigabytes: French tax policy targets the flow of information

On 30 October 2026, the French National Assembly adopted amendment No. I-1358 to the 2027 Finance Bill. Submitted by Socialist MP Laurent Lhardit, it introduces a ‘tax on digital data producers’.

A tax on every gigabyte

The amendment proposes introducing a tax of 5.5 euro cents per gigabyte of data transmitted by content providers to subscribers of internet service providers in France. The tax would be paid directly by content providers, namely digital platforms offering video, social media and hosting services.

Telecoms operators would not be liable for the tax, but would have to measure quarterly the volumes of downstream data delivered to their subscribers and identify the source of each data flow. This data collection would take place under the joint supervision of the Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP) and the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications, Postal Services and Press Distribution (Arcep).

The scheme nevertheless raises another major concern: the collection of data and its implications for privacy, online anonymity and the confidentiality of communications. These concerns remain despite assurances that the system would use ‘consolidated and anonymised’ data.

The DGFiP would then use the volumes reported by operators to issue a tax assessment to each data provider. The tax would be capped at 15% of turnover generated in France or 2% of global turnover. The amendment cites an annual volume of 200 billion gigabytes of data transmitted to France, mainly attributable to major US technology companies: Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Akamai.

The Socialist MPs behind the amendment expect it to generate around €10 billion in tax revenue. Many consider this figure an overestimate, as it relies on traffic measurements taken close to peak hours.

35 MPs out of 577 present

According to public vote No. 9336, which is available online, the amendment received 11 votes in favour, 10 against and 14 abstentions, out of a total of 35 votes. The government and the budget committee’s rapporteur-general had nevertheless issued unfavourable opinions on this specific amendment.

These 11 votes represent approximately 1.9% of the 577 members of the National Assembly. Just 11 MPs decided on a new tax affecting more than 69 million people in an almost empty chamber. Consent to taxation, a founding principle of the ‘social contract’ and a condition for the legitimacy of political power, rested in this particular case on a handful of elected representatives who were present in the National Assembly early on a Friday morning.

Nothing is final yet

The amendment will only be definitively adopted if the National Assembly approves the entire first part of the Finance Bill, which deals with budget revenue. This vote has already been postponed twice because MPs have not yet completed their examination of the amendments.

The government can request a second reading of specific articles or, if it invokes Article 49.3 of the Constitution, retain some or all of the adopted amendments. The Senate is then due to examine the bill between 20 November and 8 December. During this stage, the amendment could be rejected and sent back to the National Assembly for revision and a new vote.

The French Telecommunications Federation, which represents Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR, has denounced the proposal as a ‘bureaucratic monstrosity’. On X, Xavier Niel, founder of Free, described MPs who supported the proposal as ‘incompetent ignoramuses’.

Another important point is that nothing prevents platforms from passing the tax on to subscribers through higher subscription prices or charging advertisers more. If they were to pass on the entire cost, this could amount to a maximum of €145 per person per year.