Internet tax

Funny title, isn’t it. The thing is that it is dead serious. As of the current standing of affairs in Hungary the newly elected government plans to impose a tax on every gigabyte of data people begin to download. The rate is set at 150 HUF (roughly £0.50) which might not seem a lot but one has to know that in Hungary even the minimum wage is taxed (well, pretty much everything is) and there is a vast layer of society who lives close to that level and now it seems that even the occasional joy of Papa Pear Saga will be somewhat restricted.

We who live in an economy where internet is pretty much unlimited don’t even think of how much data we are using but if you think of the fact that just by watching YouTube or Skypeing regularly might put the figure in the tens of gigabytes we quickly realize that in many cases the amount of the internet tax will outweigh the price of the internet subscription itself.

First of all I want to ask by what right (apart from them being the government capable of doing anything) and on what basis would any government put a tax on people’s internet usage. The broadband and the data allowance is provided by the ISP that also maintain servers and infrastructure and pay taxes to the government already. So by what right would anyone sane enough tax data traffic? I can understand road tax since roads need to be maintained. But internet cables? Do we seriously need to pay for that? Do we seriously need to pay for that? The ISPs provide a service that you buy. It is in their interest to have a good infrastructure so I assume whatever income they generate some of that will be used for maintenance. The government so far has nothing to do with this. And now it is said that there will be an internet tax that theoretically the ISP will have to pay but nothing will stop them to charge the end users instead. So no matter if you have unlimited internet at home it will practically function as a pay as you go system, the subscription fee being only a base fee plus what you use.

On the 26th of October there was a demonstration against internet tax on the streets of Budapest, tens of thousands were reported to participate, the more radical even assaulted the HQ of the leading political party.
What will this achieve? In Hungary at the moment anything can happen unpunished from the government’s side. This is the second term they’ve been voted to lead the country with a overwhelming majority of the mandates (for reasons that are beyond my understanding) so in effect they feel they have the right and the public support to do as they please, even making such steps that upset a lot of people which is not even risking to lose their popularity (reasons for that are also beyond me).
I think it is a good time for the Hungarian public to show their power and turn around the plans for this new tax and finally have a real say in the creation of a better and more livable society.
I had the chance to see from close up how it works in France for example. During my five months in Paris I have seen two huge strikes/demonstrations that worked out well. The public transport workers for example have managed to protect their pension with great success and did not let the government to cut down on them as they please.
Many of us forget the meaning of minister (servant of the people) and tend to behave as if we were serving the government.

(Photo: Reuters)