The tax on private copying continues to bring big to the beneficiaries

246.3 million euros. This is the total amount of taxes on private copying for the year 2024, 12 million more than in 2023.

This tax was the most visible when it was common to engrave his music on CD. Virgins CDs and DVDs were much more expensive than in other countries without this tax, or with a lower rate. But it has not disappeared with the gradual disappearance of CD engravers. On the contrary, it is now omnipresent: USB keys, memory cards, external hard drives, smartphones, tablets, computers … If a device has storage space, it is almost always subject to the tax on private copying.

Recipes hampered by cross -border sales

However, the collection for 2024 could have been higher. Its president, Idzard van der Puyl, denounces cross -border sales, accusing certain sellers of not declaring their sales in France. The organization targets in particular the shops hosted on third -party sites which are not declared, and indicates that it has used Digital Services Act to try to make them close, but without success.

The cost for the consumer is not insignificant. The tax is supposed to be progressive, but the increase in the storage of smartphones means that most reach the maximum threshold of the tax, or 14 euros. This represents a low percentage of the price for the latest iPhone or other high -end smartphone, but a much larger share of the price for less expensive models. For external hard drives, it takes between 6 and 15 euros depending on the capacity. The tax is also applied to certain reconditioned products, or 10.08 euros for smartphones, and 10.92 euros for tablets. These two categories of devices are therefore doubly taxed.

New devices soon subject to tax?

According to the France Copy Figures, a large part of the revenues comes from smartphones, or 13.4 million declared purchases and an average tax of 13.72 euros, representing around 183 million euros. Of the 246.3 million euros collected, 184.8 million are redistributed to authors, artists and producers, 62 million are invested in culture, and the organization keeps 3.2 million for its operating costs.

The report also indicates several tracks to increase its income. Copy France wishes to review the scale applicable to smartphones, and subject the internal hard drives of computers as well as the personal storage space in the cloud, the latter not currently taxed. If it continues to largely finance the creation, the possible expansion of the tax to new uses, however, risks relaunching the controversy on its merits.

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