Hungary’s Fidesz Likely To Approve Ad Tax Bill In Current Form
- 11 Jun 2014 9:00 AM
Fidesz lawmakers unanimously support the bill on the ad tax in its current form and are unlikely to insist on any big changes before the vote in parliament, Antal Rogán, the party’s parliamentary group leader, told the press, adding that the party leadership would discuss modification proposals but he saw no point in making “major changes” to the bill.
Rogán also noted that the vote on the tax was scheduled for the autumn session so “we will return to this subject...” He reiterated that the tax was designed to complete efforts at ensuring an equitable sharing of the public burden and would only encompass companies with especially large advertising revenues.
The protests against tax are “natural” but “the bearings of the ad tax and content of journalism” are not related, he insisted. Parliament’s budget committee today voted to forward a bill to the national assembly. Fidesz lawmaker László L Simon insisted that the proposal was not about harming media freedoms or high-quality newswriting but about generating revenue for the central budget.
He also said that the tax, planned to be zero percent below annual advertisement revenue of 500 million forints, would not have an impact on opposition-leaning papers such as Magyar Narancs or Népszava.
Socialist lawmaker Sándor Burány, the committee’s head, insisted the tax was aimed at curbing media freedoms and independent media outlets.
Source www.hungarymatters.hu
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