Italy Tv Tax In Electricity Bill

[Chillout]

The Italian government are planning on including the television tax in electric bills from 2015.

All residents within Italy who own a TV set are required to pay a tax which supports RAI (Public Broadcaster) and some revenue for the government.

The current tax if I am not wrong is around €115 a year. Under the new plans, they plan on reducing this to €60 per household which they claim will be the lowest in Europe.

Many say that we should not pay any tax as the RAI channels are full of advertisements just like the other privately operated channels.

Their aim I guess is to reduce the tax but force everyone to pay it as this will automatically be applied to anyone that has electricity supply in their home.

Do you think this is fair, barbaric or illegal?

 

[Rosie]

I think it's all 3 of the above

And it's not true that it's the lowest in Europe. In my country, this tax is €1,50 /month. I made no mistake, it's one euro and fifty cents. And it's already included in the electric bill. And yes, my country has the same problem, it's an abusive tax! Why should you pay, when all TV channels show commercials AND you see the same movies, the same reruns all the time. I can't even count how many times I have seen the Beethoven movies, for instance (it's on TV as I write this right now...)

At least they plan on reducing it. Paying more than €100 each January is definitely not ok, it's like a slap in the face after the Holidays. Instead of thinking of the fond memories of the Holidays that have just passed, you receive a €115 bill just as the new years starts. Or now, a much more expensive electric bill.

My advice, maybe we shouldn't turn on the Christmas lights anymore, to save up the money to pay for the TV tax. LOL