| ||||||||
 Print friendly version
|
NCF slams idea of extra TV ‘tax’
Taking up to 1% of our taxes instead of a television license is yet another trick to extract more from consumers’ pockets without having to work for it, according to the National Consumer Forum.
The draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill suggests that tax-payers cough up another 1% to fund the now dysfunctional and cash-strapped South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
Department of Communications director-general Mamodopi Mohlala said the tax would go into a new Public Service Broadcast Fund, an easier route for the SABC than collecting TV licence fees. “Licence fee collection poses a huge administrative burden on the SABC, and it involves lawyers and collectors when people do not pay,” she said.
Thami Bolani, chairman of the National Consumer Forum, said the plan is unfair, unaffordable, and not well considered by its proponents.
“It is staggering that government can consider yet another extra burden for consumers in these times,” said Bolani. “The tax will clearly take a greater slice of pay packets than a TV licence would.”
The SABC gets about R800 million in licence revenue; a 1% tax on earners would add up to about R2 billion – more than double the current amount. “This tax would just be an easy way to plunder more of consumers’ income before they even see it,” he said.
“The next problem is that it further removes the SABC from any accountability for the quality of its service,” said Bolani. “It is vital that consumers are given a choice about whether they want to own a TV set or not. If they feel that TV programming is not up to standard, they should be able to exercise the right not to own a TV set – and not to pay licence fees if they don’t have a TV.”
He dismissed the argument that the SABC spent too much time trying to get viewers to pay for licences. “The legislation is in place for the SABC to demand payment for TV licences, and it needs to do so in an organised and efficient manner,” he said. “If the organisation was properly and professionally run, collection of licence fees would not be a problem.
“Every provider of goods and services in the country must have workable systems for collecting payment from consumers. Why should parastatals be given a short cut to consumers’ pockets? This just makes them lazy, inefficient and unaccountable.”
Bolani called on the SA Revenue Services not to become a vehicle for state agencies to abuse consumer rights. “The right to choose what services to consume and pay for is a fundamental right that should not be ignored by simply increasing taxes on already over-stretched consumers,” he said.
 |
 |