french tax on data

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Netflix, Steam, cloud services: will your subscriptions and downloads soon cost more due to a new tax?
By
Guillaume Henri
Published on 10/30/26 at 4:54 PM
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Need to make a tech-related choice? Les Numériques helps you decide.

Despite opposition from the government and the general rapporteur, members of the National Assembly have adopted a Socialist-proposed amendment that introduces a per-gigabyte tax on online content providers—a measure with potentially far-reaching consequences.
Netflix, Steam, cloud services: will your subscriptions and downloads soon cost more due to a new tax?

© National Assembly – Amendment No. I-1358 was adopted by 11 votes to 10.
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The vote in the chamber was decided by a single vote: 11 in favor, 10 against. Amendment No. I-1358 to the Finance Bill, submitted by the Socialist and affiliated group, seeks to establish a levy based on the volume of data delivered to French users. Set at 0.055 euros per gigabyte, this tax is intended to generate up to 10 billion euros in revenue by targeting the actual activity of digital players. A levy based on data volume, as measured by telecom operators

The mechanism tasks internet service providers (ISPs) with recording the data volumes generated by each entity on a quarterly basis, subject to joint oversight by Arcep (the French telecommunications regulator) and the Directorate General of Public Finance. The provision also encompasses content delivery networks (CDNs), ensuring that traffic originating from relay servers—positioned as close as possible to the end user—is accounted for.

To avoid placing an undue burden on services that consume high levels of bandwidth but operate with narrower profit margins, a cap has been included. The levy cannot exceed 15% of the revenue generated in France, or 2% of global revenue. Beyond the budgetary objective, the authors highlight an ecological dimension, suggesting that this cost will encourage content providers to optimize and compress their data streams.
From video streaming to digital games: services in the crosshairs

While the amendment specifies that the levy is to be paid by content providers—not by individual internet users—the range of platforms and technical services potentially falling within its scope covers a significant portion of daily digital activity:

Video and live streaming: Platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, Prime Video, Twitch, and TikTok account for the bulk of downstream traffic, alongside television and catch-up services (e.g., TF1+, France.tv, MyCanal).
Video games and interactive entertainment: Online storefronts—such as Steam (Valve), the Epic Games Store, the PlayStation Network, and the Xbox Network—handle installation files and updates that frequently range from 50 to 150 gigabytes in size. Artificial intelligence and code repositories: Model and dataset hosting services—such as Hugging Face or GitHub—generate data transfers reaching tens of gigabytes per file, often distributed free of charge.
Cloud services and synchronization: Storage and backup platforms like Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud, or Dropbox, as well as cloud infrastructure providers (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
Social media and communication: Applications such as Instagram, X, and Discord, or video conferencing tools (Teams, Zoom).
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Infrastructure providers like Cloudflare, Akamai, or Fastly—specifically targeted due to their data delivery points.
System updates: The distribution of patches for Windows, macOS, iOS, or various Linux distributions.

Predictable repercussions for users

Although consumers would not be taxed directly, companies subject to this levy might adjust their business models. To offset the financial burden or avoid hitting a legal threshold, some providers could pass the costs on to subscribers, restrict bandwidth for connections located in France, or impose limits on the downloading of very large files.

Having been narrowly passed during a public session in the National Assembly, the text must now continue its legislative journey. It will be submitted to the Senate for review and must address reservations expressed by the executive branch before it can potentially be permanently enshrined in law.
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