The Danish Parliament has re-examined and re-adopted a bill on a so-called streaming tax that is intended to support Danish TV production. The bill, originally passed in December 2023, had to undergo a new review due to a procedural error. The corrected legislation now requires major streaming services such as Netflix and HBO Max to contribute to the production of Danish content. Under the new law, all streaming services targeting a Danish audience must pay a fixed contribution of two percent of their revenue in Denmark. Additionally, an additional contribution of three percent is imposed, making the total contribution five percent. However, streaming providers can avoid paying the extra three percent if they invest five percent or more of their Danish revenue in Danish-produced content.
The procedural error has not affected the timeframe for when streaming services will begin paying the new cultural contribution. The services will still be required to pay from 2025 as planned. The European Commission has criticized the law for being discriminatory towards productions from other EU countries and for setting too high standards for what can qualify as new Danish content.
To address the Commission’s concerns, certain adjustments were made before the law was passed. However, it is still unclear whether these changes are sufficient, and Denmark may therefore face further demands for alterations from the European Commission.