Commissioner to propose lowering internet VAT rate to 18pc

Budapest (MTI) – The prime minister’s commissioner for a national consultation on digital development will propose lowering the VAT rate on internet services to 18 percent from 27 percent, he said in an interview posted on the website of InfoRadio on Saturday.

“We will put concrete proposals on the government’s table by mid-November,” said Tamás Deutsch, who is also an MEP of governing Fidesz.

The proposal will be made on the basis of the national consultation on the internet, he added.

The government must naturally decide on the financial as well as the political viability of such a measure, he said.

Deutsch said he would also propose providing a basic internet package at preferential rates to underprivileged Hungarians. The matter of who would be eligible and who would subsidise the preference is still a question, he added.

Last November, following a massive demonstration over a planned internet tax, Deutsch said the national consultation on the internet would concern how to maximise freedom for net users and ensure the widest and cheapest access.

Photo: splitshire.com

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters