France’s Constitutional Court will assess whether the 3% digital services tax breaches constitutional principles, following a referral from the Supreme Administrative Court.
The French Supreme Administrative Court referred a question to the French Constitutional Court (Conseil constitutionnel) on the constitutionality of the 3% digital services tax (DST) on 17 June 2025, enacted in 2019. The DST applies to companies with annual global revenue over EUR 750 million and revenue from digital services in France exceeding EUR 25 million.
The referral followed a claim by Digital Classifieds France seeking a refund of DST paid for 2019, arguing the tax violates constitutional principles of equality under Articles 6 and 13 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Key constitutional concerns raised include breaches of equality between companies subject to corporate income tax and those exempt, discriminatory exclusions, unequal treatment based on whether services are digital, flawed territoriality rules using the national presence coefficient, inconsistent calculation methods, excessive threshold effects, and enforcement disparities dis advantaging foreign operators.
The Constitutional Court’s decision is expected in the coming months.
