What you need to know
- Apple might have to disclose how much profit it makes in France.
- Amendments could be made to French budget bill ordering disclosure.
- France's former digital affairs minister believes companies are understating French activities.
Apple could soon be forced to disclose how much profit it generates in France, according to reports from Fortune today. The news comes as France's former minister for digital affairs, Mounir Mahjoubi, has stated he may seek to file an amendment to a budget bill in France, discussion of which is due to begin on Friday.
France introduced a 3% tax on all French revenue for digital companies in July of this year. It is estimated that this tax could generate the French state around $440 million this year. However, Mahjoubi estimates that this figure should be closer to $1 billion. The 3% tax is supposed to be a temporary measure, with France hopeful that global measures can be introduced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development so as to more effectively tax internet companies who often use loopholes to pay less tax in certain countries.
Recently Google settled 2 investigations into its practices in the country, agreeing to pay $1.1 billion to the French government. The purported amendment would impact Apple, as well as other giants such as Amazon and Facebook.
