Mobile phone tax?

Tom Dunne

It has been suggested by the Green Party that a 1c tax on text messages would raise some much needed funds for the public purse, in this current economic crisis.

It has also been suggested by a mild-mannered moderator on a well-known Irish internet forum that a blanket €10 tax on all mobile phones might be a better idea.

So, what say you?

Random

they can take as much tax as they want once my prices don't go up.

I don't want to pay an extra 1c a text.

Would be interesting to see if this would effect free text offers etc.

What's this about a tenner tax on all mobiles, how's that work?

Random

ah i see the poll now (i'm on mobile theme!) and that explains the tenner a lot better. Don't agree with that. I have loads of sim cards and would hate to get hit with a bill for 200eur given i hardly ever use some of them.

sharkman

The Green Party are insane . Seriously are they all retarded ?

Rsaeire

No new taxes on mobile phones

I agree with the €10 tax per year option, as noted in my post on the “1c tax on texts” thread, if a new tax has to be introduced.

coolmoose

No new taxes on mobile phones

€10 tax pa isn't too bad, anything is better than an increase in income tax/pension levy etc.

I for one wouldn't mind paying an annual stamp duty type tax on my mobile phone.

drunkmonkey

€10 yearly tax on all mobile phone accounts (similar to ATM card tax)

sharkman wrote: »

The Green Party are insane . Seriously are they all retarded ?

there not the only ones by the looks of it, some other nutter suggested a €10 mobile phone tax and some even crazier nutters thought it might be a good idea ....:D

i'm off to blow all my money before I loose it on tax, oh wait, i'm broke /facepalm

BC

€10 yearly tax on all mobile phone accounts (similar to ATM card tax)

My first response to this was no way but it does seem that its a straightforward way of getting income in quickly.

I would prefer the 1c per message option as i then have the option to not send text messages if i wish and so not pay the tax. With the 10 euro charge, I have no choice.

The problem for the governement is that they can budget based on the 10 euro charge, people are unlikely to get rid of their phones. They can't really budget well on the 1c per message as people may just start reducing the number of texts that are sent.

Tom Dunne

No new taxes on mobile phones

sharkman wrote: »

The Green Party are insane . Seriously are they all retarded ?

Or is it that desperate times call for desperate measures?

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Rsaeire

No new taxes on mobile phones

drunkmonkey wrote: »

there not the only ones by the looks of it, some other nutter suggested a €10 mobile phone tax and some even crazier nutters thought it might be a good idea ....:D

i'm off to blow all my money before I loose it on tax, oh wait, i'm broke /facepalm

The €10 per year tax was recommended as a replacement for the 1c per sms tax; if a tax had to be introduced. I am sure the vast majority of users would be against any tax at all, but if a tax had to be introduced, the €10 per year tax would be preferable over the government’s current proposal.

keizer

No new taxes on mobile phones

sharkman wrote: »

The Green Party are insane . Seriously are they all retarded ?

Yes they are. Sure we have some hair-brained idea to get people cycling to work and claiming tax relief for bicycles that will be left rust in sheds. Who will want to cycle to work between November and February?

I think it would start off with €10 stamp duty on mobiles and then it would just get increased every year after.


How much money would this €10 tax bring in?

super_furry

No new taxes on mobile phones

I think both ideas have merit, however the €10 on all accounts would be almost impossible to police on PAYG phones.

Tom Dunne

No new taxes on mobile phones

super_furry wrote: »

I think both ideas have merit, however the €10 on all accounts would be almost impossible to police on PAYG phones.

How about deducting it from credit?

Rsaeire

No new taxes on mobile phones

keizer wrote: »

Yes they are. Sure we have some hair-brained idea to get people cycling to work and claiming tax relief for bicycles that will be left rust in sheds. Who will want to cycle to work between November and February?

I think it would start off with €10 stamp duty on mobiles and then it would just get increased every year after.


How much money would this €10 tax bring in?

It's safe to assume there are at least 3 million active mobile phone users, so I would say it would work out as follows:

3 million users x €10 = 30 million Euros

keizer

No new taxes on mobile phones

Rsaeire wrote: »

It's safe to assume there are at least 3 million active mobile phone users, so I would say it would work out as follows:

3 million users x €10 = 30 million Euros

It would be a help alright but would the see it as being worthwhile? They'd make more from taxing texts (which I'm against TBH).

Rsaeire

No new taxes on mobile phones

keizer wrote: »

It would be a help alright but would the see it as being worthwhile? They'd make more from taxing texts (which I'm against TBH).

Well technically the government would receive 25 million Euros if they taxed 2.5 Billion texts at 1c per text. In saying that, people can reduce their text usage, however, they’re less likely to reduce their mobile usage to having no mobile phone account at all.

keizer

No new taxes on mobile phones

Rsaeire wrote: »

Well technically the government would receive 25 million Euros if they taxed 2.5 Billion texts at 1c per text. In saying that, people can reduce their text usage, however, they’re less likely to reduce their mobile usage to having no mobile phone account at all.

I read somewhere this morning that it would be far more than that.....can't find where now. But your figures are correct.

Do-more

As she has openly published her mobile number in the public domain and she is an elected public representative I presume it is OK to link to it here. If not then mods please delete.

If anyone feels the urge to text Mary White TD with your objections to the proposed tax her mobile number can be found here (on the right hand side, middle and bottom)

Her email address is marya.white@oireachtas.ie

Put democracy in action folks!

lawhec

With the €10 per annum charge, I know that in Hong Kong there is a HK$2.50 (approx 26c) charge per month for all mobile phone accounts by the government, contract and pre-paid. In the case of pre-paid, it is deducted from the credit on the phone and not enough credit means the service is disconnected. The two are similar, covers everyone who has a mobile phone (there are quite a few people with mobiles who rarely or never text message, my dad for one!) so has the added bonus for a government that if you want a mobile phone, its pretty much impossible to avoid.

pirelli

€10 yearly tax on all mobile phone accounts (similar to ATM card tax)

Princess Tom wrote: »

It has been suggested by the Green Party that a 1c tax on text messages would raise some much needed funds for the public purse, in this current economic crisis.

It has also been suggested by a mild-mannered moderator on a well-known Irish internet forum that a blanket €10 tax on all mobile phones might be a better idea.

So, what say you?

Definitely should, We pay the highest prices in the world. If the goverment wants 1c it should not come from us. They can tax it and we could make an issue out of it and some mobile phone provide will promise not to charge its customers the 1 c tax and it would be a success.


If they jack the prices the goverment should then tax their income, they are ripping us of anyway.

Random

I would be a little less against a charge for €10 per person that owns a mobile phone, rather than a per account charge.

drunkmonkey

€10 yearly tax on all mobile phone accounts (similar to ATM card tax)

if it's only going to generate €30 million what's the point, it'll cost just as much to administer.. it'll probably end up costing us €60 million once the public service get involved.....

OP is right the government get enough already from communications, no point sending it the same direction as car industry...

mk6705

No new taxes on mobile phones

Rsaeire wrote: »

It's safe to assume there are at least 3 million active mobile phone users, so I would say it would work out as follows:

3 million users x €10 = 30 million Euros

I'd be prepared to pay €10 a year for my country. 1c a text though, that'd drive me mad.

towel401

if they bring this in i'm buying a satellite phone again. might be a bit more expensive but at least i won't be funding the scumbags in charge of this country

CamperMan

1c tax on text or €10 tax on mobile phones.. ridiculous :mad:

godskitchen

I cant believe some of you. Bending over once again.

I will be happy to pay this 1c tax once a few terms are met.

1. Government to take a 50% pay cut for the next 5 years.

2. If Vodafone/O2/Met/3 report operating losses in this country, if not they should pay the 1c, it is not as if they will leave the market, they make a shed load of profit off the mugs the Irish have become. They already overcharge compared to the rest of Europe as it is.

3. A reduction in the number of public workers, how on earth have there not been redundancies in planning departments, to name just one.

This is just a smoke screen, this government really do not have a clue as to what to do, they are so out of touch its not funny. The greens are a joke, if they had any balls they would be forcing issues within government on a number of issues, but every single one of them is weak.

Mr Bloat

godskitchen wrote: »

I cant believe some of you. Bending over once again.

I will be happy to pay this 1c tax once a few terms are met.

1. Government to take a 50% pay cut for the next 5 years.

2. If Vodafone/O2/Met/3 report operating losses in this country, if not they should pay the 1c, it is not as if they will leave the market, they make a shed load of profit off the mugs the Irish have become. They already overcharge compared to the rest of Europe as it is.

3. A reduction in the number of public workers, how on earth have there not been redundancies in planning departments, to name just one.

This is just a smoke screen, this government really do not have a clue as to what to do, they are so out of touch its not funny. The greens are a joke, if they had any balls they would be forcing issues within government on a number of issues, but every single one of them is weak.

+1

It's hilarious, the government spent years squandering the money gathered during the good times and nobody questioned a thing. Now that everything has gone pear shaped, they have somehow managed to get us to try to figure out ways ourselves that we can give them more of our money even though they haven't reformed the sectors that are bleeding the country white in the first place. And here we are, clapping each other on the back when one of us comes up with a novel way that they can tax us. Wake up, people!

drunkmonkey

€10 yearly tax on all mobile phone accounts (similar to ATM card tax)

godskitchen wrote: »

this government really do not have a clue as to what to do

slash welfare, slash the minimum wage, and go through the public service with a lawnmower, they know exactly what to do.... trouble is they don't want to, Brian will loose his place in the history books... April will be interesting..

back on topic, I still reckon the 5cent txt tax is the way forward, free txts aren't helping the economy....

Jonathan

No new taxes on mobile phones

Without being overly negative:


The country is foooked. Ireland ltd needs money from where ever it can get it.

Why not the mobile phone users?

drunkmonkey

€10 yearly tax on all mobile phone accounts (similar to ATM card tax)

jmccrohan wrote: »

The country is foooked. Ireland ltd needs money from where ever it can get it.

Why not the mobile phone users?

I drink, I smoke, I drive a petrol car, i'd only support it if there was an amnesty for people already paying 3 of the above....
The vat on my phone bill is already about the same as the average meteor customers spends in a month....no more tax please...

Mr Bloat

jmccrohan wrote: »

Without being overly negative:


The country is foooked. Ireland ltd needs money from where ever it can get it.

Why not the mobile phone users?

Erm, because the mobile phone users are us and we already pay tax and vat and will be hit for higher rates of possibly both next month as it is?

Jonathan

No new taxes on mobile phones

Mr Bloat wrote: »

Erm, because the mobile phone users are us and we already pay tax and vat and will be hit for higher rates of possibly both next month as it is?

Those tax hikes next month.. prob to 50% and 25% respectively are a drop in the ocean.

The government is trying to kerb expenditure and increase income to try to stick to the huge deficit figures it submitted to the EU at the end of December.

€10 yearly tax on all mobile phone accounts (similar to ATM card tax)

1c tax, is an excellent pain free idea imho

Rsaeire

No new taxes on mobile phones

Some of you have missed the point of why some users have chosen a particular tax over another. I doubt any of us wish to pay more than we already do, but given the choice between the two taxes mentioned throughout this thread, the lesser of two evils, in my opinion, would be paying €10 a year.

godskitchen

Rsaeire wrote: »

Some of you have missed the point of why some users have chosen a particular tax over another. I doubt any of us wish to pay more than we already do, but given the choice between the two taxes mentioned throughout this thread, the lesser of two evils, in my opinion, would be paying €10 a year.

I think you will find, if you look again, that there are 3 options.

godskitchen

drunkmonkey wrote: »

slash welfare, slash the minimum wage, and go through the public service with a lawnmower, they know exactly what to do.... trouble is they don't want to, Brian will loose his place in the history books... April will be interesting..

back on topic, I still reckon the 5cent txt tax is the way forward, free txts aren't helping the economy....

I really do not think they do.

They have what, 4 years left, in power, without being forced to call an election.

If I were Biffo, I would look at the situation, worst approval rating in history, it is only going to get worse. These are things we can be pretty sure of.

So I would be brave, I would rather go down in history as being the one who tried something drastic than the one who kept the band playing while the ship went down.

The next question is where to start the cull public workers. Oh and you are all paid too much in this country, its crazy.

Rsaeire

No new taxes on mobile phones

godskitchen wrote: »

I think you will find, if you look again, that there are 3 options.

I'll rephrase the part of my post you have issue with, so you can better understand my point; “… the two most popular taxes mentioned throughout this thread.”

loyatemu

there are new taxes on the way for everyone - they will at the very least stick a cent on both the income tax rates (maybe 2c).

In the past they've gone after credit\debit cards because virtually everyone has them and no-one wants to get rid of them. Exactly the same thing applies to mobile phones - a levy per account seems easy enough to administer, I wouldn't be surprised to see it brought in.

Tom Dunne

No new taxes on mobile phones

Mr Bloat wrote: »

Erm, because the mobile phone users are us and we already pay tax and vat and will be hit for higher rates of possibly both next month as it is?

But you could say that about virtually any product/service you use.

My point is, as alluded to in the poll, if you had to accept a new tax (and let's be honest here, you don't have much of a choice if Biffo and the boys decide it), which one would you think would make most sense?

They are looking at every conceivable area to get in revenue, water rates, property tax, etc. and I think mobiles will be hit due to their popularity.

snaps

Perhaps if they do perhaps we could all move over to a UK network that doesnt charge roaming fees whilst in Ireland??????? Like three?

Perhaps sales in mobiles across the border will increase like the sales of booze etc!!!! LOL