[x-pubpol] France mulls smartphone tax to fund arts

[Joly MacFie]

http://www.mobileworldlive.com/france-mulls-smartphone-tax-to-fund-arts

A plan has been mooted in France which would see a new tax introduced on
smartphones, tablets and other internet-connected devices in order to raise
money to fund French art, films and music.

According to the *Financial Times*, the proposal for a tax on the sale of
devices was made in a government-commissioned report to determine how
France should adapt to continue its commitment to French-language culture
in the digital era.

The report said that an initial tax of 1 per cent on device sales would
raise €86 million and that the levy could be raised as high as 4 per cent.
Culture minister Aurélie Filippetti said the tax could be included in the
country’s 2014 budget.

The report said it is legitimate for the government to intervene to
“correct excessive imbalances” in the digital economy and “to make actors
that don’t directly exploit content, but which profit from its circulation,
contribute to its creation”.

DigitalEurope, a lobbying group for smartphone makers in Brussels, said the
tax was “a move in the wrong direction”.

The proposal is consistent with France’s ‘exception culturelle’ in which
culture is treated differently to commercial products. The country funds
film-making through taxation of TV companies and other distributors, while
French music on broadcasters is subject to quotas.
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