D. A PREREQUISITE: ENSURING PLATFORM CERTIFICATION AND PROPER USER INFORMATION
1. Make platform certification a real “accreditation process”, guaranteeing tax compliance for users
Annual certification of the platforms provided by Article 242 bis of the General Tax Code, which regards the obligation to provide users with information is an important step towards improved regulation of the collaborative economy , and a satisfactory compromise between pure self-regulation and strict control. Certification is a way of strengthening the trust of both users and the public authorities .
The automatic reporting proposed by the Working Group would be implemented only by certified platforms , which further increases the importance of this procedure.
It is therefore crucial that the approval is issued on the basis of reliable and high-quality certification , all the more so since currently the DGFiP does not have the resources needed to verify the conditions of this certification.
The Working Group therefore makes, at this stage, two proposals:
Firstly, strengthen the visibility of the certificate, by displaying it on the platforms home page : highly visible to users, this certificate could become a kind of tax compliance accreditationand thus encourage the platforms, that care about their reputation, to seek the best certification and therefore the best certifiers .
|
Proposal No. 10 Make platform certification a real label, indicating to users that they comply with tax rules. For this purpose, the certificate should be displayed on the platform homepage in a visible position, and should mention its date and the reference of the certifying third party. |
Secondly, publish guidelinesabout the content and certification methods , prepared by the tax authorities or at least in close consultation with them, in order to ensure the high-quality standard of this new procedure. These guidelines could be published in late 2017 , on the basis of the certificates sent out during the first year of application of Article 242 bis of the General Tax Code.
|
Proposal No. 11 Publish, by late 2017, guidelinesfor platform certification, in order to set high quality standards for both the content of the certificate and the certification process, and encourage the application of best practices by certifying third parties. |
2. Adapt the obligation to provide information to the diversity of the business models online platforms
As explained in the first part of this report, implementation of the obligations laid down in Article 242 bis of the General Tax Code presents some problems which could decrease their effect.
The Working Group therefore proposes two adaptations, designed to take account of the specific characteristics of certain business models.
With regard to the obligation to provide information , if it must remain applicable by default each time a transaction is concluded , it would however be relaxed for very frequent micro-transactions , where its strict implementation would not only be difficult, but would also be completely unreasonable. This would apply to advertisements paid per clickor videos for which the author is paid according to the number of views in particular.
In such cases, the information obligation would be deemed to be fulfilled if the platform meets the following two conditions:
- the transactions are of a regular nature and are for activities of the same kind ;
- the platform sends the user a summary of his transactions at least every month rather than annually.
|
Proposal No. 12 Adapt the obligation of user information on platforms to the diversity of their business models. When very frequent, similar micro-transactions are performed (click adverts, videos according to the number of views), platforms should be exempted from the obligation to provide information each time a transaction is concluded |
With regard to sending the annual summary of income received by the user, waive this obligation for platforms which exclusively offer activities exempt from tax by nature , and in particular co-consumptionactivities covered completely by cost-sharing. Sending this summary, apart from the fact that it requires costly developments by the platforms, could create some confusion among users as regards their tax obligations.
This provision would apply provided the platforms have rules and procedures, duly certified by the independent third party , which guarantee that the gross income received by their users are, in their entirety exempt from tax by nature. These rules and procedures must be expressly stated in the certificate of Article 242 bis of the General Tax Code.
Without prejudice, this provision could be applied to platforms such as Blablacar or Wingly , which have strict rules based respectively on the kilometric scale, and on the pro rata of the costs incurred by a plane sharing activity.
|
Proposal No. 13 Exempt online platforms offering activities which are non-taxable by nature (such as cost-sharing) from the obligation to send an annual summary of transactions to each of their users. To be exempted from this obligation, platforms would have to implement duly certified internal processes guaranteeing the non-taxable nature of the income generated by the activities. |
However, the Working Group considered that it was not appropriate to increase the penalty applicable in case of non-compliance with the obligations laid down in Article 242 bis of the General Tax Code , although this point was raised on several occasions during the hearings.
Certainly, the fixed amount of EUR 10,000 provided for in Article 1731 of the same code, has a very weak deterrent effect for large international platforms should they want to ignore it it must be recalled that most of them comply with it, and have sometimes done so moreover for several years without any legal obligation (see above). However, and given the restrictions laid down recently by the Constitutional Council with regard to proportional fines, an increase in the fixed amount of the fine, for example to EUR 30,000 or EUR 50,000, could have a very negative effect on small French start-ups that have just been launched, without necessarily affecting the large international actors, protectedby the obstacle of extraterritoriality.