TV licence fee cash guarantees house prices of relocated BBC staff

themanbearpig

I don't pay the tv tax, so I don't care. Everyone should stop paying it, in a mass protest. Its about time it was abolished.

lynzpower

themanbearpig wrote: »

I don't pay the tv tax, so I don't care. Everyone should stop paying it, in a mass protest. Its about time it was abolished.

D you never listen to radio?

Id say my enjoyment of radio 4 alone is worth the 11 quid or month we pay ( between 2!) The larger your HH the cheaper it is!

iolanthe07

I agree with Lynzpower. Radio 4 alone is worth 11 quid a month even if you never watch any TV.

Sir_Humphrey

Well, what do people expect if you move the jobs of difficult to replace professionals? How many people who hate the licence fee are happy to pay squillions a month to watch footie and American imports on Sky?

Generali

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

Well, what do people expect if you move the jobs of difficult to replace professionals? How many people who hate the licence fee are happy to pay squillions a month to watch footie and American imports on Sky?

It's another example of taxation vs free choice. I think people make too much of a fuss about the licence fee - it's just another tax and it isn't that much. Personally, I'd do away with it but there are far greater inequities in the world.

Sir_Humphrey

Generali wrote: »

It's another example of taxation vs free choice. I think people make too much of a fuss about the licence fee - it's just another tax and it isn't that much. Personally, I'd do away with it but there are far greater inequities in the world.

Nonsense. You do not need a telly any more than you need Sky. If you do not want to pay the licence fee then don't have a telly. You could still listen to the radio.

Generali

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

Nonsense. You do not need a telly any more than you need Sky. If you do not want to pay the licence fee then don't have a telly. You could still listen to the radio.

That's disingenuous. You don't need countless things that have VAT applied to them - clearly VAT is a tax.

You pay the licence fee under threat of imprisonment which makes it a tax.

Sir_Humphrey

Generali wrote: »

That's disingenuous. You don't need countless things that have VAT applied to them - clearly VAT is a tax. You pay the licence fee under threat of imprisonment which makes it a tax.

Well, if you managed to get a hook up to Sky without paying, you'd be under threat of imprisonment. And no-one has voted for Rupert Murdoch. Or is it one rule for the public sector and another for the private? I would argue that a hypothecated charge is no more a tax than paying a train fare under British Rail.

Generali

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

Well, if you managed to get a hook up to Sky without paying, you'd be under threat of imprisonment. And no-one has voted for Rupert Murdoch. Or is it one rule for the public sector and another for the private? I would argue that a hypothecated charge is no more a tax than paying a train fare under British Rail.

Well Wikipedia seems to think it's a tax:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_license

So does The Times:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article417851.ece

As does the Office for National Statistics:
https://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/cpst0106.pdf

And the House of Lords:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldselect/ldbbc/128/12805.htm

Let's face it Sir H, you're on to a loser here.

Sir_Humphrey

Generali wrote: »

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/cpst0106.pdf" snip Let's face it Sir H, you're on to a loser here.

20 January 2006 The Office for National Statistics has today announced three classificationdecisions, following a review of the National Accounts treatment of publicsector television:• the television licence fee, previously classified as a service charge,is being reclassified as a tax;• the BBC remains in the public sector, but is being reclassified fromthe public non-financial corporations sector to central government;• Channel Four Wales (S4C) is similarly being reclassified. These classifications are solely for the purpose of producing National Accounts and the statistical products based on them. This has noimplication for the independence of these broadcasters.

Ignoring the unreliable Wikipedia and the Murdoch owned Times, you have to concede that a) it was not a tax before Jan 2006 and b) it is legalistic hair splitting. The obvious difference is that the TV licence goes to pay for the telly, and VAT goes to pay for whatever the government decides. It is no different to paying a train fare under British Rail. Perhaps you think that if the licence fee were made private it would then a) then be fair and b) be cheaper (like the privatised trains - not).