Jobbik proposes ad tax to oust commercial TV stations
By MTI
The Jobbik party on Wednesday submitted to parliament the
draft proposal on taxing advertisements, the deputy head of the radical nationalist opposition party said on Wednesday.
What Jobbik has submitted is in fact legislation drafted by the government in May and published on its website, said Elod Novak.
According to the draft, companies with annual revenue of 1-5 billion forints would pay 1 percent of turnover; 5-10 billion would be charged at 10 percent and more than 10 billion at 20 percent. Publishers, broadcasters and outdoor advertisers with annual revenue of over 1 billion forints (EUR 34m) are to pay a tax on adverts.
Ad industry representatives were to have met government officials to discuss the tax in June, but the Prime Minister’s Office told their association that the bill would not be submitted to parliament before the summer recess, the Hungarian Advertisers Association said on its website earlier. The talks on the tax will continue in the autumn, it said.
Novak noted that Jobbik in 2010 had already initiated the introduction of
an ad tax to be levied on multinational companies first and foremost.
“Disciplining the commercial media, the two leading commercial TV companies in particular, is
part of the Hungarian nation’s cultural freedom fight,” Jobbik said at the time.
Novak said that the departure of the two TV channels, namely TV2 and RTL Klub, as a result of the introduction of the ad tax would be a “significant achievement,” adding hope that the government seriously considers introducing the tax.
http://www.politics.hu/20130808/jobb...l-tv-stations/