3 ms·

> > Every household has to pay a monthly fee even if they dont want to > Even if you don't own any screen or audio devices they still make you pay for it. I al

by gioele 7y ago

> > Every household has to pay a monthly fee even if they dont want to > Even if you don't own any screen or audio devices they still make you pay for it. I always fail to see how this isn't pure theft. The rationales is that you are benefiting from that service (public information) indirectly (other citizens make more informed decisions) even though you don't use it directly. And, realistically, which household does not own a device that is able to receive a video via a web site? BTW, you don't need to pay the Rundfunkbeitrag if, among others: «* you receive BAföG and do not live with your parents, * for recipients of unemployment benefit II or social allowance benefits, * for recipients of social welfare benefits or basic subsistence benefits ("Grundsicherung"), * for recipients of assistance to blind people according to § 72 German Code of Social Law XII.» Source: https://www.studentenwerk-hannover.de/en/en-social/en-reductions/en-broadcast/ https://www.studentenwerk-hannover.de/en/en-social/en-reduct... That said, it is high time that these kind of levies get converted into normal taxes and progressively taxed like everything else. Why should the €30k/year household contribute as much to the public information as the €200k/year household?

lm28469 7y ago
If it's mandatory then make it a tax, like every other thing. This is kind of in limbo between tax and "you're not really obligated to pay, it's not illegal not to pay, but if you don't pay the state allow it to be processed by debt collectors". It's like if you received a letter asking you 10 euros a month for building schools, another 15 euros for building new public buses, another 15 for a new train line. All these things are taken from your salary before it even reaches your bank account so why is this tv/radio thing any other way? We're already paying insane amount of tax in gerrmany, asking for 17 euros per months for thing like this on the side is an insult.
- thebean11 7y ago
  If all taxes were itemized like that it would probably lead to a lot more government accountability of how money is spent, and it would be a forcing function to create a budget ahead of time. I'm sure there's a million issues I haven't thought of, but I like the idea.
chispamed 7y ago
The rationale behind not making it a tax is making it politically independent. If it were a tax any government could decide to just allocate the funds to other projects if they didn’t like the way they are portrayed on television. I’m very happy that it’s not paid for with tax money, otherwise we would just have uncritical state media.

by gioele 7y ago

lm28469 7y ago

If it's mandatory then make it a tax, like every other thing. This is kind of in limbo between tax and "you're not really obligated to pay, it's not illegal not to pay, but if you don't pay the state allow it to be processed by debt collectors". It's like if you received a letter asking you 10 euros a month for building schools, another 15 euros for building new public buses, another 15 for a new train line. All these things are taken from your salary before it even reaches your bank account so why is this tv/radio thing any other way? We're already paying insane amount of tax in gerrmany, asking for 17 euros per months for thing like this on the side is an insult.

thebean11 7y ago
If all taxes were itemized like that it would probably lead to a lot more government accountability of how money is spent, and it would be a forcing function to create a budget ahead of time. I'm sure there's a million issues I haven't thought of, but I like the idea.

chispamed 7y ago

The rationale behind not making it a tax is making it politically independent. If it were a tax any government could decide to just allocate the funds to other projects if they didn’t like the way they are portrayed on television. I’m very happy that it’s not paid for with tax money, otherwise we would just have uncritical state media.