The film daily year book of motion pictures (1938)

The public of the neighborhood and provincial houses prefer the "dubbed" versions to the original versions. In any case the law prevents the showing of each original version in more than 5 cinemas in Paris and 10 in the provinces, and "dubbing" of foreign films to be shown in France must be "dubbed" in France. French, of course, is the predominant language, but German is also emploj'ed to a wide extent in Alsace and Lorraine. Taxes — Cinema taxation in France is very high. Cinema theaters are taxed anywhere from 10 percent to nearly 23 percent of their total gross revenue. In addition to the numerous regular business taxes including a very high "patente" tax and special taxes on publicity posters, distributors pay unusually high taxes including a 2 percent turnover tax on every rental as well as an additional 8 percent "production" tax on the cost of prints. They are likewise taxed on posters and must pay numerous other special taxes. Import duties are relativelj' high and to them must be added what is in effect an import duty, namely, the cost of dubbing, for an American film in its original version may not be shown in more than 5 cinemas in Paris and 10 in the provinces. The theater tax decree of July 25, 1935, (*) is still in effect. C) As published on PP. 71-72 "Review of Foreign Film Markets during 1936". Article 3 of this decree provided that municipalities of over 110,000 population (16 in France) might reduce the poor tax, but did not say that the poor taxes must be reduced. This was the result of many years' fight of the cinema exhibitors against the tax. The poor tax on the cinemas of Paris was reduced from 10 percent to 8.75 percent beginning March 28, 1937. C^) It is the first time since the French Revolution that there has been a reduction in the poor tax, which, in principle, is assessed on all amusements and which has been 10 percent since its imposition. (^) The decrees reducing the poor tax in Paris from 10 percent to 8.75 percent expired on December 21, 1937, and the exhibitors fear very much that this decree will not be re-issued and that the poor tax will go back to the old rate of 10 percent beginning January 1, 1938. Special taxes on cinema (including poor and State taxes) total in Paris per year about 70,000,000 francs and for the remainder of France, 110,000,000 francs, making an estimated total of 180,000,000 francs. One of the highest taxes paid by exhibitors is the so-called "patente" or license tax. Exhibitors have long pointed out that theaters are favored over cinemas in this respect. An example is given of a theater which as a legitimate theater paid a "patente" of 1,400 francs a year and when it was transformed into a cinema, the "patente" was between 15,000 and 16,000 francs. The following table shows separately and cumulativelj' the State and poor taxes collected on each 100 francs of net receipts in Paris film theaters : State Tax Poor Tax First class 2 Frs Second class.. 5 " Third class... 10 " Fourth class. .15 " Fifth class 20 " 8.75 Frs. equals 10.75 Frs. 8.75 " " 13.75 " 8.75 " " 18.75 " 8.75 " " 23.75 " 8.75 " " 28.75 " The percentages of the taxes imposed to the total box-office receipts, (including taxes and admissions), or the gross receipts which are used fur statistic purposes are for each 100 francs of box-office receipts. Admis Total sions box-office Percentage of total Frs. Taxes receipts box-office receipts % 110.75 113.75 118.75 123.75 128.75 The decree of July 25, 1935, contains the previous regime of reduced state taxes for cinemas outside of Paris. 1st Class 2nd " 3rd 4th 5th " 100 100 100 100 100 10.75 13.75 18.75 23.75 28.75 10.75/110.75 9.706 13.75/113.75-12.088 18.75/118.75-15.789 23.75/123.75-19.191 28.75/128.75-22.230 In addition, municipalities have the right to assess a tax on cinemas equal to 50 percent of the State tax. The poor tax remains at 10 percent except for cities of more than 110,000 population which may reduce it. The Finance Law of 1932 permits municipalities outside of Paris to maintain the cinema taxes at the same rate which existed before the Finance Law of 1930. Therefore, there are three possibilities for the taxation of cinemas outside of Paris, namely: 1) those on which there is no municipal tax 2) those on which there is a municipal tax of 50 percent of the new reduced State taxes. 3) and those on which there is a municipal tax, maintaining the old rates, in accord with the Finance Law of 1932. The outstanding and heaviest taxes in France on the distributors of American films are : 1 — the 2 percent turnover tax on all films, rentals and charges for accessory hire. 2 — the 8 percent "production" tax on prints 3 — the "patente" or trade license tax on main offices and branch offices in France. The most important tax is the 2 percent turnover tax assessed on every rental and also on transactions involving the rent of posters and publicity matters to exhibitors. The S percent "production" tax on prints is assessed on prints imported from the United States or any other country, in addition to the regular duty, and on prints made for the American companies in France. The "patente" tax is a trade license tax assessed on all offices and is based partly on the rent and partly other considerations. It is an important item. In addition to the above taxes there is an apprentice tax of 2 percent on all salaries paid by the distributors. There is a 14 percent tax on net profits which is assessed before dividends are declared ; then there is a tax of 24 percent on dividends, if declared, which is deducted before dividends are paid to the holders of bearer shares. There is also a tax of 4 percent on undistributed profits. The import duty on developed films is 20 percent advalorem. This duty is assessed on arbitral value, fixed several years ago by the custom authorities on the recommendation of a French trade organization, at 25 francs per meter for negatives, 5 francs per meter for positive films, and 1 franc per meter for sound effects on films. In addition there is the 8 percent "production" tax assessed on all positive prints imported. In addition to all these there are small charges for customs, statistics, the French Chamber of Commerce, etc., assessed against all imports. Theaters — There are approximately 4,500 theaters in France. The total seating capacity of these theaters is approximately 2,300,000. It is very difficult to give a figure for the average admission price to cinemas in France. The average price for the first runs which show only original versions of foreign films is about 20 francs per seat. The average admission price to all other cinemas in France maj be estimated at from 8 to 10 francs per seat. Admission prices range from 3 francs to 30 francs per seat. At the present time the majority of the French public prefers gay light comedies featuring wellknown local stars. After this type of film they prefer the so-called super-films in modern rather than historic style. Generally speaking the French public does not like the historical costume films. The public of the cinemas on the Champs-Elysees which specialize in original versions prefer, at the present time, gay light comedies from the United States. During the past year the American colored films have had exceptional success in the neighborhood and provincial houses. The ChampsElysees public has not been particularly enthusiastic about colored films but the great number of film fans have rushed to see this type of film during the past year. The French have shown no particular interest in either English or German films during the past year. The yearly gross income at film theaters is estimated between 900,000,000 and 920,000.000 francs for 1937, an increase of about 50,000,000 francs over last year. 1214