Google Disagrees with Online Ad Tax Proposed by French Government
The French Culture Ministry has announced it is considering introducing a tax on online advertising tax for major social networks and search engines, including Google and Facebook, to increase its arts funding.
The proposal was introduced in a government-commissioned survey which concluded that an online ad tax would end "enrichment without any limit or compensation".
A spokesman for Google disagreed with this finding, saying, "We don't think introducing an additional tax on internet advertising is the right way forward as it could slow down innovation."
Speaking on behalf of the Culture Ministry in a speech to leaders and representatives of the arts and entertainment sector, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said, "For the time being, these companies are taxed in the country in which they're headquartered even though they make up a big part of our advertising market."
Google has online ad revenues of €806m (£720m) in France but is headquartered in Ireland.