Free and SFR have just suffered a new legal setback against the CNC, the National Center for Cinema and Animated Image. The two operators pointed to certain elements of the tax on television services and demanded the payment of 35 million euros. The administrative court of Paris rejected their request.
The four main French operators have had a string of legal setbacks lately. At the end of May 2022, Orange was forced to deactivate a 4G antenna installed in Haute-Loire. She is suspected of having caused the death of dozens of cows. Bouygues, Free, Orange and SFR have also condemned this court decision.
However, we have just learned that Free and SFR are coming to take another setback in court. Indeed, the two operators have lost their case against the CNC, the National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image. The subject of this legal tussle? The TST, the tax on television services.
You see, since January 1, 2010, the CNC has been responsible for collecting and controlling the TST, a tax demanded from publishers and distributors of television services such as Orange, SFR, Bouygues and Free. The institution has also set up a dedicated website, which allows companies liable to “to declare each year (by 24 April at the latest) the elements of the tax base and to monitor the payment of the various installments each month”.
Also read: Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR – here’s why the prices of mobile plans keep rising
Justice gives reason to the CNC
However, the troublemaker of the Internet estimated that by including in this plate the sums collected via the line rental charges paid to Orange, the CNC had erred in law. Free therefore claimed the payment of 5 million euros, a sum that the operator paid in 2015 and 2016 to the CNC.
As for SFR, the operator founded by Patrick Drahi demanded reimbursement of reminders and penalties applied by the CNC during those same years. Or the sum of 30 million euros. However, the Paris administrative court did not side with the two operators when delivering its verdict on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. Indeed, the judges considered that the tax applied to what was paid by the operator. ‘user, all Internet and TV offers combined. In other words, the CNC was only applying its prerogatives.
Source : The French Movie
