French Senators Amend Tax On TV Channels

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

23 November 2009

Introduced in order to compensate for the recently imposed ban on advertising on public television in France (France Télévisions), the tax on private television channels is to be “modulated,” according to an amendment adopted by the Cultural Affairs Committee in the Senate.

Commenting on the decision, rapporteur for the 2010 media budget, Michel Thiollière, emphasized the need to take into account the effects of the global economic crisis on television channels.

The amendment provides that any channel reporting a loss in turnover of greater than 5% when compared to 2008, will be taxed at a rate of 0.5% on their advertising revenue. Any channel that either incurs a loss of less than 5%, or experiences an increase of under 2%, will be taxed at a rate of 1%. The amendment also stipulates that the existing measure will continue to apply to all channels reporting a growth in revenue of more than 2%.

According to the amendment, this measure is to apply until the complete ban on advertising is imposed on France Télévisions at the end of 2011.

Parliament adopted the tax on advertising revenue at the beginning of the year following the introduction of the partial ban on advertising on public television (after 8.00pm). The tax is levied at a variable rate of between 1.5% and 3% on the turnover of private television channels.

Channels TF1 and M6 have already appealed to the European Commission to challenge the new tax.

The proposed amendment to the controversial tax has, however, yet to be adopted in public session.

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