France Votes a Tax on Every Gigabyte - Why VLC Says It Could Cost 1 Million Euros a Year

French MPs have voted for a tax of 5.5 euro cents on every gigabyte that big online services send to French homes. VideoLAN, the non-profit behind VLC, says it could cost them over 1 million euros a year.

The short answer: nothing changes for you today. This is one amendment in a budget that is still being debated, the government is against it, and it could easily be dropped. VLC stays free, and your Netflix bill stays the same for now.

What France Voted For

On Friday 30 October, the National Assembly passed amendment I-1358 to the 2027 budget by 11 votes to 10, with only 35 MPs in the room, Europe 1 reports. It was put forward by Socialist MP Laurent Lhardit.

• The rate. 0.055 euros per gigabyte of data sent to French internet users.
• Who pays. The companies sending the data - streaming services, social networks, video platforms and content delivery networks. Not viewers, and not internet providers.
• The cap. No more than 15% of a company's French revenue or 2% of its worldwide revenue.
• Who counts. Internet providers like Orange, Free, SFR and Bouygues measure the traffic, with telecoms regulator Arcep and the tax office checking.

The authors name Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Akamai, which together send about half of French internet traffic. They hope to raise around 10 billion euros a year - a figure the government disputes.

Why VLC Is Worried

VLC is made by VideoLAN, a small French non-profit, and it is one of the most downloaded programs in the world. Every copy and every update sent to a French user is data that would count.

VideoLAN warned on X that the tax would cost it "more than 1 million euro per year", Trending Topics reports. How the revenue cap would apply to a non-profit with very little income is not clear yet.

That is the wider worry: the tax was aimed at Big Tech, but the government says about half the money would come from smaller providers, including French ones.

Will Streaming and Downloads Cost More?

You would not pay the tax directly. But companies could pass it on through higher subscription prices or more ads, and the text does nothing to stop that.

Some rough numbers, using figures reported in the French press:

• A 100GB game download would cost the store 5.50 euros in tax.
• An average French home uses about 267GB a month, which works out at roughly 15 euros a month in tax, before any caps.

Free services like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok cannot raise a price you never paid. The amendment's backers say that is the point, but critics expect the cost to land on advertisers instead.

What Happens Next

This was a first reading. The budget still goes to the Senate, where the right-of-centre majority is unlikely to back the tax, and the government may push the budget through without a final vote, which could quietly drop it.

Even if it survives, the way traffic is measured and collected depends on a decree that does not exist yet. Public Accounts Minister David Amiel has already questioned whether it can work at all.

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