France’s National Assembly has voted at first reading to remove a tax allowance that currently limits the share of advertising revenue from free video-sharing platforms subject to the country’s video services tax. The amendment would bring the full amount of qualifying French advertising revenue into the tax base, increasing the contribution of platforms whose proceeds help fund the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC).
Under the existing system, free video-sharing platforms expose only 34% of their French advertising revenue to the levy, following a 66% allowance. The amendment would delete that allowance, making the full 100% of the relevant revenue taxable. The change goes further than the French government’s proposal, which had sought a more limited adjustment.
The parliamentary process has produced two separate decisions that should not be conflated. The National Assembly’s Finance Committee adopted its own version on 8 October. However, the text subsequently approved by the full chamber was amendment 859 to Article 13 of the 2027 Finance Bill. It passed during the second sitting on Friday, 30 October, on a recorded vote of 33 to 28.
The same sitting also approved a three-year exemption from the levy for video-on-demand services owned by television channel publishers. The two measures create different tax treatments for parts of the online video market: free video-sharing platforms would face a broader taxable base, while qualifying broadcaster-owned streaming services would receive temporary relief.
That distinction has implications for the competitive relationship between global video platforms and established broadcasters. The proposed changes would increase the tax exposure of advertising-funded video-sharing services while giving television groups operating their own on-demand platforms a period of exemption. The CNC, meanwhile, is a key recipient of the tax revenue used to support France’s cinema and audiovisual industries.
However, the amendment has not become law. It remains part of the Assembly’s first-reading consideration of the 2027 Finance Bill. The revenue section of the budget had not yet been fully voted on, and rejection of that section would send the text back to the Senate without the amendment.
The next stages of the budget process will therefore determine whether the proposed tax changes survive. Until then, the vote represents a parliamentary position rather than an enacted change to the video services tax.
