France increases triple play VAT fee

French broadband consumers will soon find yet another fee attached to their monthly bill as the country's National Assembly voted to increase the value added tax (VAT) if they subscribe to a play package.

Facing pressure from EU regulators to change the way it taxes service providers' triple play services, France's Economy Ministry in September submitted a revised VAT tax plan to the country's president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Under the new rule, service providers will have to pay VAT of 19.6 percent on the full amount of triple play service revenues on the 2011 budget versus the current 5.5 percent they pay on video service, which makes up 50 percent of the triple-play bundle.

Triple play end-users don't fare too badly in the process. They will have to pay an additional $2.80 per month on $42 monthly service bill.  

For more:
- TeleGeography has this article

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