Friday 23 August 2013

In Britain, if you are blind, you can watch tv for free.

The CBC is so lucky that hidden taxes pay their bills.  (60% of their $1.7 billion revenue comes from Ottawa, the rest is advertising and a bit of miscellaneous.) The CBC is paid with a hidden tax and the BBC with a direct tax.  The result is "Watching TV without a licence" prosecutions swamp British Courts. In Britain, if you are blind, you can watch television for free. (This is actual law, not a joke).   Otherwise, 70% of the BBC revenue comes from a direct  £145 fee paid annually.  (£5.1 billionpounds total, 3.6 for tax, 1.1 for BBC business revenue, .3 grants and other.).  Since this tax was formalized in 2010, the British Courts have been clogged by unwilling and non-compliant taxpapers.   The BBC is responsible for a staggering 1 in 8 prosecutions in the UK (3500 filings per week) trying to collect their booty.  Not to pay the tax is a crime.

(Link is to The Telegraph, h/t to smalldeadanimals.)

Best of all, it's free!


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