The Bill creation and Internet wants to cut off Internet access to hackers and promote legal download sites... But the most important of them does not pay the VAT in France. The number one sector, the iTunes Store from Apple site, which would have made according to our estimates more than 26 million euros in sales last year in France, discharges of this tax to the Luxembourg. And, with this fiscal domiciliation, Apple service only made that 1.4 million euros of VAT in the Grand Duchy to the title of its French activities while he would have paid more than 5 million euros if it had been imposed directly by the French tax authorities.
The France in effect applies a rate of 19.6 VAT on the sale price of each title sold on music sites via the Internet while the Luxembourg simply tax the part related to copyright (approximately 75 of the selling price) of 3 and 15 technical benefits. This real tax gain has indeed also seduced AmazonMP3 service launched in several European countries and soon disembark in France. "These two services are hosted in the Luxembourg", confirmed the Ministry of Finance of the Grand Duchy that, beyond this advantageous tax treatment highlights also the attractiveness of its technical infrastructure.
This system of tax optimization will continue in Europe until 2015, date at which downloads will be subject to VAT of the place of residence of the user. In the meantime, several hundreds of millions of euros in taxes will therefore, beyond the France, escaped to the English and German States.
Of course, the French iTunes competitors of the FNAC or Virgin howl at the "distortion of competition." "We sent a memo regarding for Franck Riester, rapporteur of the text creation and the Internet to the National Assembly, said François Gerber, Director of digital operations at the FNAC that takes advantage of the opportunity to request a VAT rates harmonised down 5.5 as for the book.". Today, we lose money on online music and in the long term it does not help to develop the market.
"Fair step."
"We pay our taxes," says Pascal Cagni, Director General Europe Apple, for which there is nothing illegal in the fact of having based iTunes in the Luxembourg. But competing services Fnac or VirginMega pay, them, their taxes in France because only the non-EU companies can benefit from the Luxembourg VAT. "This creates discrimination, it is not fair, said Jean-Noël Reinhardt, Chairman of the Board of Virgin Stores." Need to harmonise taxation.
Another US Internet company has also followed in the footsteps of Apple. The Amazon cybermarchand, which has already launched its music online at the United Kingdom and Germany service, also installed these activities in the Grand Duchy. He will go to the French version AmazonMP3, which will be launched next May... "Our service will become pan-European and it is consistent to centralize our operations in one place." "Our online shop is based at the Luxembourg and, therefore, we pay the VAT in the country," confirms the direction of Amazon. Dematerialised PC music represented in 2008 a turnover of France 43.9 million, according to the Observatory of the music. Of this total, Apple's iTunes service owned 60.2 of market share.
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