The deputies voted to abolish the TV license fee, the Government promising to finance public broadcasting through VAT. A saving of 138 euros per year for the taxpayers concerned if the measure is validated by the Senate.
As Emmanuel Macron promised during the election campaign, the TV license fee will be abolished this year. On the night of Tuesday 26 to Wednesday 27 July, the deputies adopted the amending finance bill for 2022, which includes various measures intended to support the purchasing power of citizens in this period of generalized inflation, in particular the elimination the contribution to public broadcasting – the real name of the television license fee. The taxpayers who were subject – approximately 23 million households – will therefore no longer have to pay this contribution, which amounted to 138 euros per year in mainland France and 88 euros per year overseas, amounts which increased by 25% in ten years.
Be careful, however, because, to be validated, this measure voted by the National Assembly must still go through the Senate, which could challenge it. It could also be called into question by the Constitutional Council, because, as suggested by a report by the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs, the abolition of this contribution could call into question the independence of public media. whose resources depend directly on the state. Finally, this abolition should only be effective in 2023, because the fee is traditionally paid in the fall, with the housing tax – which should also disappear completely. It would therefore still have to be paid in 2022, for the current year.
To continue to finance public broadcasting, MEPs have planned to replace the license fee with a levy on VAT – this general tax which applies to all goods and services sold to consumers – without requiring a new tax or even an increase. rate. This levy should be transparent and “painless”, insofar as inflation has mechanically led to a significant increase in state revenue. Enough to cover, in principle, the approximately 3.7 billion that the contribution brings in each year.
Contribution to public broadcasting: significant historical funding
It should be remembered that the TV license fee – which has existed since 1933 for radio receivers and since 1948 for television receivers – remains the main source of revenue for several public audiovisual organisations: the France Télévisons group, of course (which includes the France 2, France 3, France 5, etc.), but also the Radio France group (France Inter, France Info, France Culture, FIP, etc.), France Médias Monde (France 24, RFI, Monte Carlo Doualiya), TV5 World and finally the INA (National Audiovisual Institute, which notably provides archiving, training and production missions). The distribution of funds is very uneven: it is France Télévisons, which gets the largest share (about 2.5 billion per year), with its some 10,000 employees. Radio France recovers around 600 million while INA only receives around 90.
Replacement funding raises questions, as several opposition MPs pointed out during the debates in the National Assembly. Some are concerned about the dependence of public broadcasting groups on the State, others about the possible decline in income – and means – of these actors in an increasingly difficult context, with highly regulated advertising revenues, and, above all, increased and fierce competition from private operators, in particular platforms specializing in streaming (Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Spotify, Deezer and others).
TV license fee: a tax unsuited to current uses
In fact, the audiovisual landscape has changed enormously in recent years, such as the uses – or the “consumption” of content, if you prefer. It is for this reason that, in 2019, Gérald Darmanin, then Minister of Action and Public Accounts, declared in an interview with BFM that he was in favor of the abolition of the TV license fee, stressing that this tax, which concerns a large number of taxpayers, even if some are exempt from it, was no longer adapted to the new uses of the population. Applicable according to the official texts, to all homes with a television reception device, it concerns in practice especially those who use a television or a recording system (video recorder or recorder). Faced with the development of digital solutions, there has been talk on several occasions of making computers equipped with a TV tuner subject to them, as well as subscriptions to an Internet service provider. All attempts at reform and amendment proposals have failed, leaving the situation as it was for a long time. A rather absurd situation at a time when more and more people are watching television via digital channels, both on computers and on mobiles, with an abundance of offers and Replay and video on demand systems.
The situation will therefore change in a few months with the outright abolition of the fee. And it could still evolve because the project to bring together public audiovisual groups, which was put aside with the Covid pandemic, is still in the drawers of the Government. The idea would be to bring together the current organizations in a single entity to optimize resources and costs and better fight against new private actors. A project that is not unanimous within the organizations concerned – which would pass in practice under the control of France Télévisions. And which would remind the oldest of the venerable ORTF (French Broadcasting and Television Office), dismantled in 1975…