France considers smartphone tax to fund culture

France is preparing to tax smartphones, tablets and all other internet-linked devices to help fund the production of French art, films and music.

The proposal was made in a government-commissioned report that was broadly endorsed by French president François Hollande's socialist administration. The report, a trenchant defence of France's " exception culturelle " in the digital age, proposed imposing a tax of up to 4 per cent on the sale of all devices, including gaming consoles and e-readers, that allow access via the internet to "cultural content".

“Companies that make these tablets must, in a minor way, be made to contribute part of the revenue from their sales to help creators,” said Aurélie Filippetti, culture minister. The new tax could be included in next year’s budget, she added.

The report said it was legitimate for the authorities to intervene to “correct excessive imbalances” in the digital economy.

“[The authorities] can notably use taxation to make actors that don’t directly exploit content, but which profit from its circulation, contribute to its creation,” the report said.

Pierre Lescure, a former head of Canal Plus, the television channel, was commissioned by Mr Hollande to make recommendations on how France should adapt its commitment to preserving French-language culture in the fast-changing digital era.

The country has long had a system for funding film-making via taxation on television companies and other distributors and enforces quotas on French music on broadcasters. Mr Lescure said this was threatened by the domination of big international actors that can now circumvent such protections.

Mr Hollande, who has insisted the “exception culturelle” must be excluded from forthcoming trade negotiations between the EU and the US, said in a statement acknowledging the Lescure report that he was “fundamentally attached to the defence” of French culture. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013)