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Hungary Eyes Tax on Internet Data Transfers

Eager to expand government coffers, Hungarian politicians have pushed forward a new draft bill to be debated in 2015 that would tax Internet service providers for traffic carried. A report in Reuters indicates that the upcoming proposal sets forth a tax of 150 forints (60 US cents) per gigabyte of data traffic, though the report also notes the laws would allow companies to offset corporate income tax against the new levy.

The news was immediately received poorly, with possible protests planned for Sunday. One firm estimates Hungary's annual traffic to be 1.15 billion gigabytes on fixed line networks and 18 million gigabytes via wireless, which would generate around 175 billion forints (around $725 million) for the Hungarian government annually.
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bethy
join:2009-06-17

bethy

Member

Taxing internet is something governments want

I'm guessing any government is happy to "discover" something new to tax. My family uses over 300 GB per month, this would be a heavy tax for us. I wonder what is typical for a family in Hungary?

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

Hopefully these are elected politicians

Because if they pass this they will be looking for work after the next election. My wife and I watch about three hours of streaming a day and use around 200GB a month. I don't think I'd be thrilled to have my Internet bill go up $120, which is almost as much as I currently pay for phone, TV, and cable.
Wilsdom
join:2009-08-06

Wilsdom

Member

Tax air!

Education and public safety desperately need funding
clone (banned)
join:2000-12-11
Portage, IN

clone (banned)

Member

Re: Tax air!

Don't give them any ideas! Ever heard of carbon taxes? We're already one step away from taxes on breathing.
biochemistry
Premium Member
join:2003-05-09
92361

biochemistry

Premium Member

Re: Tax air!

Just don't exhale and you will be safe from carbon taxes.

Richardson
@70.197.166.x

Richardson to clone

Anon

to clone
Well as long as you don't exhale, no need to worry about that carbon tax.
bethy
join:2009-06-17

bethy to Wilsdom

Member

to Wilsdom
said by Wilsdom:

Education and public safety desperately need funding

Humans exhale CO2, which apparently causes global warming. Shouldn't we have to purchase CO2 credits for our exhaling?

HUN69
@91.83.18.x

HUN69 to Wilsdom

Anon

to Wilsdom
Az országomban nagyon kritikus a helyzet.Növekszik az elszegényedés,százezrek élnek napról napra,a közbiztonság "0"....az elmúlt 25 évben nem volt igaz kormánya Magyarországnak.A fidesz hazudik,lop,csal,korrupt,ezért menekülnek az emberek külföldre.Polgárháborúba sodródik az ország.Én itt élek,tudom.Szerencsétek van,hogy nem Magyarországon éltek.Jó egészséget Neked!

anonomeX
@71.207.157.x

anonomeX

Anon

How else

can they afford to repair all of those potholes caused by traffic on the "Information Superhighway"?

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: How else

said by anonomeX :

can they afford to repair all of those potholes caused by traffic on the "Information Superhighway"?


bethy
join:2009-06-17

1 edit

bethy

Member

Re: How else

Yup, and Al Gore invented the internet.


said by batterup:

said by anonomeX :

can they afford to repair all of those potholes caused by traffic on the "Information Superhighway"?

As to Ted Stevens and tubes - »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se ··· nclature

Related nomenclature[edit]

The term pipe is a commonly used idiom to refer to a data connection, with pipe diameter being analogous to bandwidth or throughput.[13] For instance, high-bandwidth connections are often referred to as "fat pipes".[14]

We can be smart asses and try to politicize this, but eventually if the FCC regulates internet using a law which permits fees, we will eventually have those.

We will also have less competition and innovation of the example of regulated utilities is used as our model.

We'll have expensive, slow, highly taxed service. The regulatory process will make any abuses we have today seem tame. Additionally abuses by the regulated entities will be extreme, fines won't cost a percent of the profit they make from abuse.
RJW1678
join:2003-01-15
Wilmington, DE

3 edits

RJW1678

Member

U.S. law prohibiting taxes on the amount of internet used

According to Wikipedia the law that prohibits this type of tax in the United States, was last renewed on September 19, 2014 and expires on December 11, 2014. Hopefully the law will be renewed again this year. A permanent law was passed by the House of Representatives on July 15, 2014, but I can not find anything that says if it was passed or killed by the Senate.

Later,
Bob

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14

Member

Re: U.S. law prohibiting taxes on the amount of internet used

Well, I hope it gets extended, our city hall would love a 60c/gig tax.
they could lower the retirement age for their employees another 10 years and double the benefits.

rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

rit56

Member

Goldman Sachs

They were probably advised by someone at Goldman Sachs, the evil greedy bastards with no morality what so ever
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Goldman Sachs

The difference is if this somehow got pulled off in the US, on top of that 60c you would see another 60c "Tax Compliance Fee"

A fee naturally suggested by investors like Goldman Sachs.
bethy
join:2009-06-17

bethy to rit56

Member

to rit56
said by rit56:

They were probably advised by someone at Goldman Sachs, the evil greedy bastards with no morality what so ever

Do you expect Goldman Sachs, AT&T, Comcast, GM, Apple, Google or any other for profit company to welcome loss?

In your life, do you make choices which reduce living standards substantially? Would you take a better job, with much greater salary? If so, you are greedy, as are virtually all of us.

The label greed, works for those regulated and the regulators.

Flyonthewall
@206.248.154.x

Flyonthewall

Anon

Re: Goldman Sachs

Taxes are supposed to serve a purpose. Taxing the internet usage when people are already paying tax for the service is pure greed. Unless the government intends to use the funds generated to support building out networks, they should walk away from this, as all it will do is hurt the economy by removing the base (usage) for that tax. People would simply reduce their use and products because of the extra cost.
bethy
join:2009-06-17

bethy

Member

Re: Goldman Sachs

said by Flyonthewall :

Taxes are supposed to serve a purpose.

Taxes empower government. Taxes facilitate wealth transfer, determined by government.

Other peoples money is very addictive. Any bureaucrat worthy of the name could find a billion reasons to justify any tax, fee or surcharge.
InvalidError
join:2008-02-03

InvalidError

Member

Most disproportionate tax ever?

The end-to-end transmission cost of 1GB worth of data is somewhere in the order of $0.02, which would make this ~$0.50/GB a 2500% tax. Ouch.

neill6705
join:2014-08-09

neill6705

Member

We're not the only ones!

The US and UK governments aren't the only ones doing terrible things with internet legislation! Yay?