A whole range of new plot lines suddenly occurs to me:
France intends to tax the revenue of about 30 Internet giants such as Amazon.com Inc. to help ensure “fiscal justice,” according to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. The levy of as much as 5 percent of French sales will start Jan. 1 and potentially raise about 500 million euros ($570 million) for the state, Le Maire told Le Parisien newspaper. Under the plan, which the cabinet will discuss on WednWednesday, the tax will apply to any company with global revenue of more than 750 million euros and French sales above 25 million euros, Le Maire said.
U.S., Chinese and European companies may meet the levy criteria, including a few French businesses, the report said, as governments grapple with how to tax global Internet giants that can generate huge domestic revenues from limited physical assets. Spain and the U.K. are also working on digital sales taxes, while Europe has so far balked at a continent-wide levy. France intends to tax revenues from local targeted ads, marketplaces and the re-selling of personal data.
The free ride for Big Internet appears to finally be over.