Orange has won a victory against the National Centre for Cinematography (CNC), after it demanded €33 million in tax linked to the distribution of television within its triple play offers.
An administrative court ruled it was only liable for €13 million of the sum claimed by CNC.
This tax called TST-D, amounting to 3.5% of the subscription price, contributes to the financing of original French content and has already been at the centre of a dispute between Free and SFR. The two operators lost at first instance and then on appeal but did not take their complaint as far as the Council of State.
According to L’Informé, Orange managed to convince the court that it was not liable to pay the tax using a new argument not put forward in the previous cases.
The Orange argument centred on the professional market including small businesses that have the same boxes as individuals but who do not watch television. According to the operator, such subscriptions should be excluded from the calculation.
The court agreed “only the products of subscriptions taken out by individual customers fall within the scope of the tax”. Professional subscriptions are therefore completely excluded from the calculation.
Orange won its case on only part of the bill because it had forgotten to include in its initial claim the monthly triple play package as well as paid options.
The operator can now request a reduction for the years 2017 and 2018. Previously imposed penalties of 10% have also been cancelled.
