French Finance minister plans to tax internet giants with 3% digital tax

In a news conference in Paris, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire estimated that the tax will raise about 500 million euros a year and should increase quickly.

Paris: The French government unveiled plans on Wednesday to slap a three percent tax on the French revenues of internet giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook.

The bill outlines how digital companies with worldwide revenues over 750 million euros (848 million US dollars), including French revenues over 25 million euros, will be taxed.

In a news conference in Paris, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire estimated that the tax will raise about 500 million euros a year and should increase quickly. About 30 companies, mostly based from the US but also from China and Europe, will be affected.

Le Maire said the tax will not affect those companies directly selling their own products online. "This is about justice", Le Maire said.

Le Maire quoted figures from the European Commission, the EU executive body, showing that digital giants pay on average 14 percentage points less tax than other European companies.

France decided to implement it after a similar proposal at the European Union level failed to get unanimous support from member states.

Le Maire said he would now push for an international deal by the end of the year at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based forum made up mostly of developed nations.

(Inputs from AP)