Taxing The Internet

In the run up to the general election next week, two separate parties have come out with similar "computer tax" policies. First off, the Green's proposed an usage based internet tax, to replace the tv licence fee that they would scrap. Their logic behind the tax is that it would fund journalism. "Good journalism, whether on the television, radio, in print or online costs money."

Fine Gael emerged the next day with a similar replacement to the licence fee, a public broadcasting tax that would “apply to all households and applicable businesses, regardless of the device they use to access content”. Although the finer details of the idea have yet to be decided, as it stands, the tax could apply to iPods, e-readers, Android phones, as well as computers and televisions. Obviously enough, it penalises people and companies who've made efforts to become carbon neutral by switching from paper usage to electronic.

Asides from that, specifically with the Green party policy, people will be double charged. They already pay their internet service provider for the data usage, and this proposal will add further cost on top of that, despite the state not providing the service. In this regards, the tv licence fee made sense in that at least the state was providing a direct service for the fee.

If you consider the importance placed on Ireland being a "knowledge economy", it seems a move backwards to create further costs to technology driven businesses. One can opt out of having a television, and therefore a television licence. Industry, on the other hand, cannot choose to forego the use of internet services, and thus could not avoid such charges.

Obviously, both parties are only mooting these as possibilities at the moment. Hopefully consideration will be put into the widespread effects of such a move happening.