Who is responsible for paying TV licence?

celiam

I have just become a landlord and the issue of who is responsible for paying the TV licence has come up. So I decided to ask the Boards experts. Who is responsible for paying the TV licence? landlord or tenant

Penny Tration

Tenant

dublinstevie

I am a landlord too,best advice is to remove any televisions from the property when you rent it out,its up to the tenant then to supply own tv and pay licence,if you leave a tv then the tenants could claim it not their property and you are liable for the licence.

salamanca22

dublinstevie wrote: »

I am a landlord too,best advice is to remove any televisions from the property when you rent it out,its up to the tenant then to supply own tv and pay licence,if you leave a tv then the tenants could claim it not their property and you are liable for the licence.

That wouldn't matter in the eyes of the law, since there is a device capable of receiving tv signals in your home (as a tenant, not you specifically) then you are responsible for paying the license irrespective of who owns the device.

I get where you are coming from though and it is best to not supply a tv set as you would need to replace that if it died. Best just to supply the bare needs such as a fridge and cooker as needed by the RTA.

blackbird 49

Penny Tration wrote: »

Tenant

+1

oppenheimer1

As a licensee, who is responsible for the TV license?

blackbird 49

I have just read the citizens information on rented accomodation ' it doesn't matter who owns the TV, be it tenant or landlord, the occupier of the house must pay the TV license

Toots

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

As a licensee, who is responsible for the TV license?

I'd imagine the landlord in that case, unless perhaps the landlord doesn't have a TV and the licensee has a TV in their own room or something. Then I'd say it'd be only fair for the Licensee to pay it.

Neon_Lights

What if said tenant just had a particularly large computer monitor, around 40 inch's or so

ScottStorm

Neon_Lights wrote: »

What if said tenant just had a particularly large computer monitor, around 40 inch's or so

Is said monitor capable of receiving a television signal? If so it's a television.

Mrs OBumble

blackbird 49 wrote: »

I have just read the citizens information on rented accomodation ' it doesn't matter who owns the TV, be it tenant or landlord, the occupier of the house must pay the TV license

I suspect that's the correct legal answer.

Morally it should be the TV owner.

Good reason to join the TV-free generation, IMHO.

ScottStorm

ScottStorm wrote: »

Is said monitor capable of receiving a television signal? If so it's a television.

All computers are technically capable of getting digital TV using a small USB dongle.
Maybe its the dongle should be licensed

salamanca22

Deleted User wrote: »

All computers are technically capable of getting digital TV using a small USB dongle.
Maybe its the dongle should be licensed

It is, despite the name the license is on any device that can receive television signals. This includes set top boxes and those dongles.

gordongekko

Depends on what your contract say.

salamanca22

gordongekko wrote: »

Depends on what your contract say.

It doesn't, there is no contracting around the law. Anyone that is resident in the dwelling is responsible for the license.

gaius c

celiam wrote: »

I have just become a landlord and the issue of who is responsible for paying the TV licence has come up. So I decided to ask the Boards experts. Who is responsible for paying the TV licence? landlord or tenant

Are you renting out a room or the whole property?

sassyj

An Post website says;
Any person in occupancy at an address where a television set is held is legally responsible for the licensing of the television set regardless of ownership of either the premises or the set itself .

catbear

I'm dubious about the whole internet TV license. I had the inspector call around and I invited him in to show him I didn't have a TV and he said it was alright, he believed me. He never asked if I watched TV on my laptop, which I did.

dbit

I thought they were introducing a new Media License to nail us all on tablet , phone and smart TV set top boxes that recieve internet streaming signals , One could argue these are not TV signals as the spectrum for medium is not the conventioanl TV signal.

So basically if you pay for the service - being broadband , they now want a TV liencse for internet accessed "TV Signals" the legislation needs a lot of tidying up. I know for one i do not subscribe to any form of TV service and only use computer monitors around my home ( Some are quite large with no Tuners ). The new media license is really a kick in the stones as they also charge for the RTE online access and as a license payer you still have to fork out to use irish TV online , thus a media license is the new way they want to label it . So i pay for boradband , I cannot access IRISH TV online for free and i have to pay a license to be able to pay for online TV when i already pay for broadband . Tis dripping in sense.

Pkiernan

celiam wrote: »

I have just become a landlord and the issue of who is responsible for paying the TV licence has come up. So I decided to ask the Boards experts. Who is responsible for paying the TV licence? landlord or tenant

Same person who is responsible for buying the toilet paper.

Butters1979

As others have said the tenant is responsible for the TV license. They are the occupiers and they are watching the TV.

CramCycle

dbit wrote: »

The new media license is really a kick in the stones as they also charge for the RTE online access

no they don't

catbear

dbit wrote: »

I thought they were introducing a new Media License to nail us all on tablet , phone and smart TV set top boxes that recieve internet streaming signals , One could argue these are not TV signals as the spectrum for medium is not the conventioanl TV signal.

Unworkable under EU open market, people travel through Ireland with their phones, tablets, laptops all the time and they can't be expected to pay a TV license on arrival.

seamus

catbear wrote: »

I'm dubious about the whole internet TV license. I had the inspector call around and I invited him in to show him I didn't have a TV and he said it was alright, he believed me. He never asked if I watched TV on my laptop, which I did.

You don't need a licence to watch TV on a laptop. Only if you have a device capable of receiving a broadcast signal.

The "internet TV licence" has been much talked about, but not introduced yet.

catbear

seamus wrote: »

You don't need a licence to watch TV on a laptop. Only if you have a device capable of receiving a broadcast signal.

The "internet TV licence" has been much talked about, but not introduced yet.

Yeah, I keep telling people that but they don't get it.

As an aside I recently moved into my parents empty house and started using the TV left there. As I'd been abroad and the house was empty for years there wasn't the new box for viewing the irish channels so I just used the basic cable package, BBCs, ITVs etc

The letter arrived saying the house needed a TV license and my initial reaction was that it was worth it. Then I remembered it was the channels that I don't watch that get the fee.

dbit

Try when not on an irish ISP

dbit

MY Bad i was looking at this around a year ago and there was published information around the possiblity of making the TV license a Media License to nail all mobile platform users , Just imagine , Hi welcome to Ireland and slap into the palm of theyre hand - the old 80's pamphlet - Dont be a sponge !!!!!!

bleary

The broadcasting charge for all households was a proposal from Pat Rabbite when he was minister for communications. There has been no mention of it since he was demoted and given the water and LPT protests I can not see this being suggested again for a generation or so.

The licence itself is pretty ineffective due to the large proportion of society (pensioners etc) exempted from paying for it and the high cost by AN POST in trying to collect it.

Chris_Heilong

Are they not bringing in a broadcasting licence, so it does not matter if it is a tv or a computer.

Carawaystick

salamanca22 wrote: »

It is, despite the name the license is on any device that can receive television signals. This includes set top boxes and those dongles.

It has to be able to receive and display broadcast tv signals.
and if it needs some other thing not in the house to do the receiving and displaying, it doesn't need a license.

Don't answer the door unless you know the person...problem solved.

Toots

Butters1979 wrote: »

As others have said the tenant is responsible for the TV license. They are the occupiers and they are watching the TV.

As for the whole why we have a TV license that’s a different story all together. RTE get plenty of advertisement revenue and that should be enough to keep Tubbers in Christmas jumpers and Fair City to keep Fair City keep churning out episode after episode of terrible terrible storyline.

TBH, I'd wouldn't complain about the TV licence if it meant I could control more of what went on RTE. Fairly Sh*tty would be the first thing to get the chop! Next I'd get rid of that awful new year's eve show thing they do.

Rezident

dublinstevie wrote: »

I am a landlord too,best advice is to remove any televisions from the property when you rent it out,its up to the tenant then to supply own tv and pay licence,if you leave a tv then the tenants could claim it not their property and you are liable for the licence.

That's a great idea, cheers!

Sleeper12

If landlord provides the tv he is liable. Most people don't want tvs. Younger people watch it all online and so long as their computer has no tuner they don't have to have a tv license

Sleeper12

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Most people don't want tvs. Younger people watch it all online and so long as their computer has no tuner they don't have to have a tv license

To be fair that's not really true, I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have at least one tv in the house, and most have multiple (both old and young). Most would even have a satellite or cable subscription.

whomitconcerns

Sleeper12 wrote: »

If landlord provides the tv he is liable. Most people don't want tvs. Younger people watch it all online and so long as their computer has no tuner they don't have to have a tv license

Wrong....as stated many times...the occupier of the house is liable

TheChizler

Carawaystick wrote: »

It has to be able to receive and display broadcast tv signals.
and if it needs some other thing not in the house to do the receiving and displaying, it doesn't need a license.

Can't remember the exact wording but there's a line in the legislation that muddies the waters, something like that it counts if it requires something else to enable it to display a broadcast. No idea what that means. A TV broadcast isn't technically defined either, (does an encrypted subscription-only MPEG4 stream count as a broadcast? If yes then why doesn't YouTube on a phone count? It's technically a broadcast, albeit only one person is designed to be able to 'tune in') it was much easier in the days when there was one method to transmit and receive a tv broadcast. Whatever about a broadcasting charge, but they do need to update the legislation.

athtrasna

Just a reminder that the question asks was who should pay. Not what technology you need to be liable, or what the tv licence pays for. Thanks

Sleeper12

Zayd Beautiful Cap wrote: »

To be fair that's not really true, I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have at least one tv in the house, and most have multiple (both old and young). Most would even have a satellite or cable subscription.

I work in shower repair. I'm in 40 homes per week. Trust me when I say most young people in rented accommodation do not have any tv at all in the house or apartment. Some have 32" (or bigger) monitors but very few have a propper tv with a tuner. I'm seeing a lot of streaming boxes. You can get all the sky, movies, sports, kids, & irish channels, all for free. Not saying its legal but most are streaming something. Then the 10s of thousands of non Irish people renting, most of these don't want any English speaking channels at all.

This is why the Irish government is talking about scrapping the TV license all together. The amount of people with TVS is dropping quickly. (I still have a TV). They want to bring in a media license. Every house in the country with a media device will have to pay. Technically if you have a smartphone in the house you'll have to pay it.

esforum

salamanca22 wrote: »

That wouldn't matter in the eyes of the law, since there is a device capable of receiving tv signals in your home (as a tenant, not you specifically) then you are responsible for paying the license irrespective of who owns the device.

I get where you are coming from though and it is best to not supply a tv set as you would need to replace that if it died. Best just to supply the bare needs such as a fridge and cooker as needed by the RTA.

Its the owner of the TV that supplies the license. If its supplied by the landlord its his responsibility. Any estate agent that knows his business will tell you to remove TV's

salamanca22

esforum wrote: »

Its the owner of the TV that supplies the license. If its supplied by the landlord its his responsibility. Any estate agent that knows his business will tell you to remove TV's

No that is not true, if you are in possession of a TV, that is the TV is in your occupied premises then you are responsible for having a TV license. This is the law as laid out in section 142 of the Broadcasting Act 2009.

In the eyes of the law it does not matter who actually owns the television, what matters is what property the television is on.

Michael D Not Higgins

esforum wrote: »

Its the owner of the TV that supplies the license. If its supplied by the landlord its his responsibility. Any estate agent that knows his business will tell you to remove TV's

Again, no

"If you are a tenant living in rented accommodation with a television you must have a television licence. This applies irrespective of who owns the television (whether the television belongs to you or the landlord). The law states that anyone resident on a premises in possession of a television set must have a television licence."

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/media/tv_licences.html

Sleeper12

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I'm seeing a lot of streaming boxes. You can get all the sky, movies, sports, kids, & irish channels, all for free.

You still need a tv for these.

salamanca22 wrote: »

Like I said I work in the high end tech sector now and have many contacts from all over the technology spectrum and know engineers / scientists working on transmission technologies and have had conversations with them about this very topic and they are of the same opinion I am. Television is dying, albeit it is a slow death.

I am a research engineer working on some of the worlds most advanced transmission systems (stuff that wont be seen for years) and all my colleges have tvs or multiple tvs.

salamanca22

Zayd Beautiful Cap wrote: »

You still need a tv for these.



I am a research engineer working on some of the worlds most advanced transmission systems (stuff that wont be seen for years) and all my colleges have tvs or multiple tvs.

Transmission of what? I have worked on FM/AM before myself and find it all very interesting.

I am an electronic engineer myself and I have worked on a broad array of projects from many sectors of tech. I worked in a software house about 18 months ago that was working on middleware / tech for tv's but scrapped their flagship project because of research they spent a fortune on lead them to the conclusion that tv use was not growing but shrinking.

I have no idea what the statistics actually are for Ireland but I know in the US that there was a massive drop in pay TV customers this year, something like 500k subscribers dropped in Q2.

Have a look at this. It shows a .7% decrease in subscriber growth with a downward trend. There has not been positive growth since 2011

https://recodetech.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/screen-shot-2015-08-10-at-6-33-06-am.png

salamanca22

salamanca22 wrote: »

Transmission of what? I have worked on FM/AM before myself and find it all very interesting.

Future broadband tech.

Anyway this is way off topic so probably best to leave it at that.

athtrasna

MOD NOTE

Please see the op's question before posting. Off topic discussion has been deleted.

Neon_Lights

athtrasna wrote: »

MOD NOTE

Please see the op's question before posting. Off topic discussion has been deleted.

why can't we take a more holistic approach to the subject? Through discussion there's learning and through learning there's action.... By raising the point why should we be paying it in the first place is just an extension of the OPs title question

CramCycle

The law states the tenants, residents, the person who is living there etc.

If a landlord provides a TV, it does not make them responsible but from experience there is usually a license provided, this is just nice and not a legal obligation.

Basically, so long as you are not living there, you are not responsible,

Not really sure what else needs to be said. If your worried they will kick up a fuss and not understand their responsibility, either provide one to get quietness or remove the TV or get a tenant with the ability to google.

Butters1979

Neon_Lights wrote: »

why can't we take a more holistic approach to the subject? Through discussion there's learning and through learning there's action.... By raising the point why should we be paying it in the first place is just an extension of the OPs title question

You can, just raise your own thread in the right forum instead of hijacking someone else's thread. This is not what the OP was asking.

OP, I'm surprised this debate is still going on.

From http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/MainContent/Personal+Customers/More+from+An+Post/TV+Licence/tvlicence250108.htm

Rule 1

Any person in occupancy at an address where a television set is held is legally responsible for the licensing of the television set regardless of ownership of either the premises or the set itself.

Any person in occupancy

Regardless of ownership of either the premises or the set itself

I'm really surprised at some of the made up and non researched answers given here.

_Brian

Butters1979 wrote: »

You can, just raise your own thread in the right forum instead of hijacking someone else's thread. This is not what the OP was asking.

OP, I'm surprised this debate is still going on.

From http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/MainContent/Personal+Customers/More+from+An+Post/TV+Licence/tvlicence250108.htm

Rule 1

Any person in occupancy at an address where a television set is held is legally responsible for the licensing of the television set regardless of ownership of either the premises or the set itself.


Any person in occupancy

Regardless of ownership of either the premises or the set itself

I'm really surprised at some of the made up and non researched answers given here.

It took 49 posts for a proper answer.. wow.

CramCycle

_Brian wrote: »

It took 49 posts for a proper answer.. wow.

It took one, please refer to the first response