UK to introduce ‘broadband tax’
The UK government intends to introduce a tax on all people who own a fixed telephone line in order to fund the expansion of the country’s high speed internet infrastructure.
Plans unveiled in front of the BCS Chartered Institute for IT by the Minister for Digital Britain mean that everyone who has a fixed phone line will be required to pay a £0.50/month tax in order to raise an expected £175 million per year. This is earmarked for future upgrades to the broadband network, something the government has been keen to chase up as it tries to ensure that all homes in the UK have access to at least a 2mbit internet connection by 2012.
While various organisations have found the plans laid out in the ‘Digital Britain’ report something to debate over, primarily timeframes and how the government plans to finance this massive engineering undertaking, the government seems intent to steam on and bring about its planned changes.
The Conservative party will allegedly vote against the new tax, claiming it is another example of the Labour government’s intent to raise taxes. While it remains to be seen how many taxpayers will object against £6 a year more in tax and where it will, in fact, be spent, one thing that is clear is that in order to fund the plans laid out by the government, money will need to be found.
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Tags:broadband, internet, tax, uk