French lawmakers seek to add gigabyte tax to internet service providers in 2027 budget

The lower house of the French Parliament, the National Assembly, voted on Friday to include a tax on "producers of digital data" in the 2027 budget. The lawmakers believe this could result in a net gain of €10 billion per year.

The amendment was "tabled by deputy Laurent Lhardit, was passed against the advice of the government and the budget's rapporteur général" and was adopted by 11 to 10 votes, reports Dealroom.

The tax would force internet service providers to measure "the volume of data each content provider and content delivery network sends to their customer" and then pay 5.5 cents for every gigabyte they deliver to French users, the outlet said. Those internet service providers named in the amendment to the 2027 budget include Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Akami.

These companies alone provide about half the internet traffic in the entire nation. However, if they were pressed to pay for the data they deliver, there is every reason to believe they would attempt to send less data, meaning they could compress what they send.

The internet service providers could also pass on the cost of the tax to French consumers, meaning that the increase from the National Assembly would be yet another tax on the French people. In one way or another, whether through throttled data or an increase in costs, the French people will likely end up paying the tax.

France has been facing a budget crisis as the economy continues to shrink, losing 0.1% in the third quarter this year. The cost of borrowing has increased and a recession looms as the nation continues to be rocked by riots that ostensibly began over education but have become a chaos fest where Antifa and migrant factions have torched and destroyed French cultural and architectural treasures.

The national debt of France sits at about 119% of their gross domestic product at €3.6 trillion as year-on-year inflation has risen to 3.4% in October. The amendment is an attempt to bring the budget under control but may end up costing French taxpayers both more money and the integrity of their internet data.