Calls for text tax in Budget 2014

Mykola

Are these people living in 2003 ? don't they know people use apps these days ? https://www.newstalk.ie/reader/47.301.396/13799/pages/

Lad Of Banter

Well, fcuk tht

Dravokivich

Not everyone uses smart phones, or with smart phones sign up to data packages.

But it's nuts all this talk of potential "taxes." The charges for SMS are a tax as it is themselves.

Draco

This again? The someone from the Green Party suggested it years ago and was roundly laughed out of it.

msg11

Text tax. Are they forgetting we pay tax on our top ups and bills already so the text messages and calls are taxed already.

BillyMitchel

What if you pay the 20 a month and get free texts? Serious question!

folan

i propose a tax tax.

we pay 40% tax for the luxury of paying tax.

stimpson

Why can't we just tax stupidity. We'd be laughing.

Dravokivich

folan wrote: »

i propose a tax tax.

we pay 40% tax for the luxury of paying tax.

They do that with cars already. Tax on a tax, with a periodic usage tax and a consumption tax.

msg11

The government should just take our wages and give us what they seem fit for us to spend.

I mean we are ****ed if we don't pay them back and we are ****ed if we do.

Heroditas

Draco wrote: »

This again? The someone from the Green Party suggested it years ago and was roundly laughed out of it.

That's what I thought. When they did the maths, it only raised a tiny amount unless they prohibitively raised the cost of text messages.

Anyway, it's being touted by a group rather than coming from the government. Wouldn't pay too much attention to it.
We'll see plenty of this nonsense between now and Budget Day.

My name is URL

BillyMitchel wrote: »

What if you pay the 20 a month and get free texts? Serious question!

I presume the tax would be levied on network operators rather than customers. I can't see how else it'd be implemented.

That'll suit Vodafone etc down to the ground. They'll hardly absorb the cost themselves. No doubt prices would be increased for everyone regardless of how often they send texts.

Heroditas

What's hilarious is the suggestion comes from Social Justice Ireland.
A tax like this would disproportionately affect PAYG customers, a lot of whom would be those they claim to represent.

A severe lack of joined-up thinking here.

Czarcasm

Oh for goodness sake, these same stupid stories always go around in the weeks leading up to the budget - texts being taxed, €1 on a pack of cigarettes, 50c on wines and spirits, etc, etc.

There are bigger things in the upcoming budget we should be discussing than a tax on bloody text messages that would be impossible to administer. Where DO people get these ideas? I really do wonder how nonsense like this gets legs.

krudler

you already pay tax on texts ffs, and anyway so many people use stuff like imessage, vibers, whatsapp etc standard texting is going extinct.

Ray Palmer

Why don't people understand how this works?

They have an idea and then they let it out to see how annoyed people are about it. If they aren't too annoyed the tax will come in. This particular one was around a long time and was also calculated incorrectly originally. It won't happen mainly because it will just stop people using texts and not really increase revenue.

Unfortunately there are also annoying lobby groups who are also at this now such as the sugar tax.

The government are all about punishment via taxes rather than encouragement through subsidy or reduced taxes.

darkpagandeath

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Why don't people understand how this works?

They have an idea and then they let it out to see how annoyed people are about it. If they aren't too annoyed the tax will come in. This particular one was around a long time and was also calculated incorrectly originally. It won't happen mainly because it will just stop people using texts and not really increase revenue.

Unfortunately there are also annoying lobby groups who are also at this now such as the sugar tax.

The government are all about punishment via taxes rather than encouragement through subsidy or reduced taxes.

You mean the government does not leak random tax ideas they have then gauge the reaction and also use it as a smoke screen to push though something they were going to do anyway. Then say well at least we did not put 20% on sugar drinks or text tax and so on :P

Skylinehead

Clearly the only answer is a 20% tax on sugary texts.

April O Neill

Mykola wrote: »

Are these people living in 2003 ? don't they know people use apps these days ? https://www.newstalk.ie/reader/47.301.396/13799/pages/

I don't. And the people I know who use apps also text a lot.

gctest50

Lol - every little bit helps ?

1267% debt-to-GDP ratio Ireland

94.3% debt-to-GDP ratio USA

Irish debt €1,638,000,000,000 -ish ?

Mykola

April O Neill wrote: »

I don't. And the people I know who use apps also text a lot.

Yeah but people would most likely move to apps if they had to pay for sms.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Heroditas wrote: »

That's what I thought. When they did the maths, it only raised a tiny amount unless they prohibitively raised the cost of text messages.

Anyway, it's being touted by a group rather than coming from the government. Wouldn't pay too much attention to it.
We'll see plenty of this nonsense between now and Budget Day.

It would raise even less now and drive phone users to completely stop using SMS and start using viber/what's app and FB for messaging so the government would take even less from tax on phone bills. It would be completely insane to even contemplate it and so therefore it will probably happen in the budget.

namloc1980

Is the 23% VAT not enough?? Anyway this kite gets flown around this time every year.

KyussBishop

Ok lets do some basic maths about texts: For O2, 200 texts costs about €15, and each text is a maximum of 140 bytes; 140*200=27.5kb.

Sending 1 megabyte of data by text would cost you:
€37

Sending 1 gigabyte of data (a common usage cap for phone data) by text, would cost you:
€38,350


A tax on top of texts is a pretty stupid idea and should not be done. Why are people not outraged by the many orders of magnitude greater than cost, price gouging on texts by the phone companies though?
Anyone who has been using texts regularly, has been getting endlessly ripped off for well more than a decade now.

Fr_Dougal

Can't believe people are still taking this seriously...

Celly Smunt

Taxing air would be the bet.

Sure feck it, we could set up a semi state called irish air and then put a "charge" on top of the air tax.

kneemos

Does anybody actually pay for texts these days?

kneemos

Celly Smunt wrote: »

Taxing air would be the bet.

Sure feck it, we could set up a semi state called irish air and then put a "charge" on top of the air tax.

It's called carbon tax.

UCDVet

namloc1980 wrote: »

Is the 23% VAT not enough?? Anyway this kite gets flown around this time every year.

You probably have or had a job at some point. Imagine if, through some magic, instead of your employer offering you a wage - you were able to demand it. Every year you'd say, 'Well, Boss, last year was tough, but it really could have been worse. You'd better give me a 10% raise.'

And imagine if your boss couldn't say no.

That's the government for you. They want a raise, they take it. Don't like it? Well, go stand outside in the rain with a sign while they laugh at you. Get enough angry people to vote in someone else, the first guy laughs as he collects an amazing pension plus all the 'favours' he can call in while he was a big-shot and was rubbing elbows with rich folk who could benefit from those favours. And the new guys laughs because, regardless of what he led you to believe, he's just as quick to serve his own interest as the last guy.

Your options are leave the country and find a slightly less twisted government or play the, 'If you can't beat them, join them' and risk your livelihood on a political career....but unless you're rich and connected....good luck.

Celly Smunt

kneemos wrote: »

It's called carbon tax.

So you already pay a tax to breathe?

D1stant

KyussBishop wrote: »

Ok lets do some basic maths about texts: For O2, 200 texts costs about €15, and each text is a maximum of 140 bytes; 140*200=27.5kb.

Sending 1 megabyte of data by text would cost you:
€560

Sending 1 gigabyte of data (a common usage cap for phone data) by text, would cost you:
€38,350


A tax on top of texts is a pretty stupid idea and should not be done. Why are people not outraged by the many orders of magnitude greater than cost, price gouging on texts by the phone companies though?
Anyone who has been using texts regularly, has been getting endlessly ripped off for well more than a decade now.

1 GB of texts should cost 1,000 times 1MB?

But your right. Text is the greatest rip off of all time as it is.

And its just another fake kite flying thing

If they bring in the video rental tax we re screwed though :pac:

kneemos

Celly Smunt wrote: »

So you already pay a tax to breathe?

Certainly do.

keith16

D1stant wrote: »

1 GB of texts should cost 1,000 times 1MB?

But your right. Text is the greatest rip off of all time as it is.

And its just another fake kite flying thing

If they bring in the video rental tax we re screwed though :pac:

They should bring in an er......"leaving town tax"

KyussBishop

D1stant wrote: »

1 GB of texts should cost 1,000 times 1MB?

But your right. Text is the greatest rip off of all time as it is.

And its just another fake kite flying thing

If they bring in the video rental tax we re screwed though :pac:

Oops...yep fixed that It would cost €37 for 1mb.

Annasopra

Mykola wrote: »

Are these people living in 2003 ? don't they know people use apps these days ? https://www.newstalk.ie/reader/47.301.396/13799/pages/

I'm surprised at Social Justice Ireland not realising that this would be socially unjust towards the Deaf community

c_man

keith16 wrote: »

They should bring in an er......"leaving town tax"

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/excise/leaflets/air-travel-tax.html

It's a great way of getting kids to pay more, they're the ones who send the most texts.

Heroditas

mango salsa wrote: »

I'm surprised at Social Justice Ireland not realising that this would be socially unjust towards the Deaf community

It also hits poorer people more because they are more inclined to use PAYG plans so don't get free text bundles in their tariff package.

baldbear

We already pay VAT on our phone bills/top up. Rediculous bs idea.