back to article 32,000 Hungarians plan to take to the streets for 'internet tax' protest

More than 30,000 people have pledged to stage a protest against Hungary's proposed internet tax law in the capital on Sunday. Viktor Orban's government is planning to tax internet traffic from the beginning of 2015, according to a bill submitted to Hungary's parliament on Tuesday. The draft law would tax internet service …

  1. This post has been deleted by its author

  2. Only me!
    Thumb Down

    Like UK?

    Well if they are anything like the UK they already tax people each month via VAT.

    Why bother with one tax when two will do?

    Coming to a country near you.........

    1. Trigonoceps occipitalis

      Re: Like UK?

      "Why bother with one tax when two will do?"

      Are you mad? There is NIC and income tax, fuel duty and vat (good one that - compounded), green levies and vat, stamp duty and inheritance tax. All pairs of taxes applied to the same goods. This allows the revenue raisers to talk about, say, income tax at one percentage when income is in fact taxed at another, higher, rate.

  3. Will Godfrey Silver badge

    Tinfoil hat time?

    I wonder if this is just a diversion, and they've got something esle really evil slipping underneath.

    1. DNTP

      Re: Tinfoil hat time?

      Government has just obtained distribution rights to every popular TV show and movie in country of Hungary. They plan to offer free on demand streaming to everyone in country. Right at same time as quietly hoping to put small tax on network data.

      Next is data security distribution quality [buzzword] assurance law. All companies will be required to host all data in the government cloud. Think of children, what if large server fell on child, would be quite bad. Storing data locally will be forbidden, everything must go on network! Data use tax will apply.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Uncle Ron

        Re: Tinfoil hat time?

        I have a traffic meter on my Netgear router. I stream most of my TV. Netflix, MLB.tv, VUDU movies, CNBC and more using multiple Roku 3's. I average about 750 GB per month. Turn on your traffic meter and check how much you are using. You might be shocked.

        I did the currency translation and the math, and this tax alone would cost me $476 per MONTH. That's a $5,700 per year tax increase.

        God bless Hungary. I hope this doesn't happen there--or anywhere.

    2. Angela Bogaczy

      Re: Tinfoil hat time?

      In other words, you haven't a clue what you are talking about.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Meh

    I'd be more impressed if it was 32,768 people. That might have a negative effect on the government...

    1. Adam 1

      Re: Meh

      That is unlikely. It would take 15 separate powers two agree on a base.

  5. InfiniteApathy
    Thumb Down

    I'm not sure if their ignorance burns with this bright white light or if they're just a greedy bunch of wankers. Either way...

  6. chivo243 Silver badge

    Future implications

    All traffic? Harsh!. I can see maybe downloads over a (high) threshold, and for file sizes over x.gbs or certain types of traffic ie, streaming . But if one guy makes cash off of a good/greedy scheme, more will follow.

    I hope it doesn't come to pass, however my Spidey sense is tingling... 65m? that's a spicy tamale!

  7. Mr Dogshit

    Whatever next?

    Next thing they'll be charging people for carrier bags.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Stop

      Re: Whatever next?

      Here in California if they're paper or plastic, you'll be charged for each one. Only the larger shopping venues for 2015 with everyone else to be picked up later. Save a dinosaur or pulp-wood tree, use artificially fertilized, lavishly pesticided cotton one!

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Whatever next?

        "Here in California"

        Ah, so it's true the Great Atlantic Irony Barrier is still in operation :-)

    2. jonathanb Silver badge

      Re: Whatever next?

      Already the case everywhere in the UK except for England, though I suspect England will follow in a couple of years time.

  8. David Roberts
    Joke

    Just checking

    So if I should for instance SPAM or DDOS somewhere in Hungary then the victim would also be taxed by the government?

    Doesn't matter if the traffic is stopped at the ISP or at a firewall/router at a company boundary, traffic is traffic, no?

    Think I might sell a botnet or two to the Hungarian tax people.

    Ummmm....I did tick the anon box, didn't I?

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  9. P0l0nium

    Sponsored by Europasat ???

    Landline upload... Microwave download to your dish...

    http://www.europasat.com/

    Tax THAT you ba*tards !!

    I think they should tax windows .... Ah! that's already been tried .

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax

    The term "Ignorant F**kwit" was invented for a reason.

  10. All names Taken
    Paris Hilton

    In the UK

    Buy something that retails at 1 GBP and pay VAT at 20% making 1.20

    You earned the 1.20 GBP to buy item and so probably paid income tax at, say, 20%

    20% of 1.20 is 0.24 GBP making 1.44

    National Insurance rates paid at, say, 12% makes 0.12 GBP making 1.56 GBP for something costing 1.00 GBP

    so to buy something costing 1.00 from the shop you have to pay guvmint 0.56 a nice little earner for Treasury and civil servants?

  11. kavetejjel

    Internet tax

    Hi,

    I am hungarian. Internet tax is bad. We have many more tax formula and now impossiblepaying all.

    The tax base of 27%.

    The monthly earnings $596. This is very very bad. There are very few.

    Everything I come across online.

    TV ( IP ) , Telephone ( IP ) and it will be a month 14000.- ft. ( $58 )

    + Mobilephone 10000 / m. ( $42 /m )

    + Electric bill : 13000.- ft. / m ( $53 /m )

    + Gas heating bill: 22000.- Ft /m ( $90 /m )

    + House installment: 60000.- Ft /m ( $246 /m )

    + Monthly gasoline: 25000.- ft /m ( $102 /m )

    And I did not even food ...

    This may think. In the size of the corruption that has been unthinkable weak. The election was a big fraud.

    I hope today will be the demonstration started today is the result.

    The following year, my mother and my brother and I are moving out of Canada forever.

    In Hungary, only to die of starvation, unfortunately ...

    This is the real situation of Hungary. All from Viktor Orbán is lie!

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