EU to tax e-mail, text messages?

European Union lawmakers are investigating a proposed tax on e-mails and mobile phone text messages as a way to fund the 25-member bloc in the future.

The story "EU to tax e-mail, text messages?" published May 26, 2006 at 12:32 PM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from Reuters expires after 30 days.

[WJeansonne]

Socialists on the march!

Just the tip of the iceberg with the EU. After they finish shaking down Microsoft, they will start working on this outlandish proposal.

[firstlast]

Don't be worried

This is just not going to work, after EU does this people are going to use mailservers in US or Asia... I think it's also impossible to track all those e-mails and ask for taxes.
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[firstlast]

Stupid

That's quite stupid, if they do this people from EU will just start using mailservers in US or Asia. And I think it's quite impossible to track down all e-mails and ask for taxes. Minority will pay for majority :)
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[Mystigo]

Spam

Seems like a good way to cut down on spam in theory. However, if
no one can figure out who the spammers are right now, how are
they going to tax them? If it's the recipient that's going to be taxed,
will they have to pay for the spam, or malicious mail floods? Seems
like this might be kinda tough to make work.

[webfocus]

spammers not affected

As most spammers are based outside the EU it won't have any effect on those guys. It's just another internet tax obstacle to EU-based businesses trying to make an honest Euro.

[kamwmail-cnet1]

Message has been deleted.

[Mystigo]

Wow

And Americans wonder why the rest of the world dislikes them so
much...

[rklrkl]

Article makes no reference how the tax could be collected

This article just sounds like a political hot air soundbite to me and it's very disappointing that we have some EU policitian claiming e-mails should be taxed and yet having no indication whatsoever of how the tax could be collected in the first place!

About the only way you could do it would be to have a blanket tax on any equipment used to send e-mails (a bit like the extremely dubious blank tape/CD taxes that some countries have), but the article goes onto the proposterous idea of being able to charge per e-mail sent. This is simply a ludicrous statement by non-tech politicians that should have been refuted by *someone* in this article (C|Net?! Wake up and stop regurgitating press releases - you're a tech news site and have a responsibility to point out when politicians are talking drivel on technical issues).

Also, this talk about a 1.5 cent tax on SMS messages is crazy - many people in Europe have phone deals with either a large number of free texts or with texts for 5 cents or less, so a 1.5 cent tax in either case doesn't make any sense (unless the EU is trying to force up the price of SMS messages and forbid free/cheap SMS?! Hardly think that's in their remit somehow). What a shoddy suggestion from the French EU MP and what equally poor work on behalf of C|Net for not refuting it - shame on both of you...

[tebiroboy]

This person speaks the truth!

As an advocate of the EU and of continued integration, this has to be one of the most ridiculous ideas I have heard. I can't imagine what kind of imbecile entertained such a thought, let alone an entire working group - and to then announce it publically!

No wonder the EU gets such a bad rep. And yes, shame on CNET for not pointing out the idiocy of this.

[booboo1243]

Tax is only the first step

Then they'll discover eveyone uses a foreign host to avoid the tax so they'll pass a law forbidding you to use a non-EU mail host. After that they'll raise the tax a tiny bit at a time (it's such a *small* increase they'll say) until they reach the point where every email you send costs you loads (taxes go up, not down).

Polititions who propose *new* taxes should never be re-elected to office.

[Altaman]

Is there anything the EU won't tax?

Gosh is there anything the EU won't tax? How come those people don't have some kind of tax revolt...there must be a limit to what these people will pay in taxes.

[fakespam]

EU is the New Soviet.

Tax, tax, tax, welfare, welfare, welfare.

Oh, and no Right to repeal nor petition anything.

Talk about getting hoodwinked. I see the EU putting those
countries back to the status of pre-Franco-Pussian War type of
living, with the rich RICH and the poor POOR (i.e. Les Miserables).

[Evocatus]

Soviet?

Dear fakespam,

Ah, an expert. In which Soviet country
did you live for how many years?

Sincerly, Evocatus

[Jackson Cracker]

Tax all those EU spam zombies!

This is obviously an idea that hasn't been well thought out.
Any computer with the right software can act as an outbound
mail server. How are they going to monitor all the machines
in Europe to determine how many emails each one has sent and
who is responsible for paying the email tax on that machine?
The bookkeeping costs would probably exceed the amount raised.

[lordeagle]

We already pay a tax

I've got ADSL at home, here in Belgium. I pay tax (21% !!) on the phone line basic service, then tax on the DSL service itself. So basically I pay 40 euros / month for using the Internet. 21% represents 6.94 euros a month in TAXES off my Internet connection. Isn't that enough already that they need to add extra taxes to that??

[Dave_Brown]

Same thing possible in the USA.

Hasn't this exact topic been brought up a few times in the US Senate or House? This idiot at the EU is just as stupid as some (most) US politicians, which really is nothing new.

Like a previous poster said (to paraphrase): Once a tax is implemented it will always increase, unless it's repealed, which is next to impossible.

Dave