If Timoshenko's Fraction Intends to Enter the Tax on Internet - Traffic?

The Supreme Rada of Ukraine intends to consider the bill of the deputy from "Julia Timoshenko's Block" Sergey Terekhin with the help of which it's supposed to impose special tax on the Internet traffic.

"Renting certificates, entrance tickets into the theatres and cinemas, cost of the data carriers containing films (film holders, CD, DVD, Blu-ray and others) are also should be exposed to taxation at the rate of 5%, the bill says. Internet-services including services of the mobile Internet and also the cost of service of video on demand - VoD should be taxable at the rate of 1%", - is said in the bill.

Taxes are planned to collected monthly, that will bring in 2010 300 million grivnas to the budget. In particular, bill № 4764 of 03.07.2009 provided that Internet and local networks will be equated to places of demonstration of plays and films. Accordingly, users should pay additionally tax "on show business" depending on the traffic used.

To collect the given sum is necessary to establish tax at the rate 7,5% from the cost of Internet-services. Today services of mobile Internet are subjected to tax collection to the Pension Fund.

From editorial board: It is difficult to understand whom they are going to collect this tax from. From the provider rendering Internet communication services? From telecommunication company providing communication between providers? From the owner of Internet site? From the user of this Internet site? What should be done in case the Ukrainian user comes on the foreign Internet site? Whom then the tax should collected and starting from what point?

Internet therefore is not regulated legislatively in overwhelming majority of countries that it's exterritorial. It's extremely difficult in the Internet to define a zone of this or that jurisdiction. In particular, physically FORUM.msk is located in Ukraine though under its content it's more Russian and is made, in general, by the Russian journalists.

It is necessary to say that Internet development as that is a marker of technological development of the country. Therefore, for example, already Bill Clinton being elected for the first term promised that each American schoolboy would get FREE access to the Internet. To the second Clinton's term all American schoolboys received access. Now let's count up, how many years passed, how many young experts who are "hobnob" with Internet grew from those schoolboys. Army!

Well, now let's compare it with the supply of the Russian or Ukrainian schoolboys with Internet, after the lapse of so many years and, at the same time, let's compare quality of this access... Shameful? It seems that the governments are not shameful.

It is known that Ukraine is one of the most poorly "internetized" countries of Europe. What do the authors of the bill want to achieve? That Internet enters the life of the Ukrainians even worse but they would go more often to the cinema and theatrical performances in "unconvertible" Ukrainian language? Well-well...

Let's notice also that Ukraine (as well as Russia) is one of few European countries where IT branch development in general passes almost without state support, as though "by itself", at the risk of businessmen and enthusiasts. At that the state has the nerve (or nonsense) to enter some medieval tax on the traffic. There's no analogy to it except the tax "on smoke" which was collected in the Middle Ages.

It also guards that the initiative proceeds from almost ruling party in power BJUT - in a couple of months it becomes completely ruling and then it is clear that the bill will be this or that was accepted.

It is necessary to say that when we were compelled to get over to Ukraine, I personally tried to contact Julia Timoshenko's government concerning development of the Ukrainian media space in the Internet. I even wrote a note to vice-premier Turchinov which, by the way, was took rather positively. But it didn't go further conversations and discussions. It became then not interesting to me - what's the reason to take away time of busy people by the matter which is not interesting to them at all?

Instead the matter reached an opposite direction that visually shows by the given bill, which undoubtedly has good prospect to become the law. Now it turns out so that people for their urge for progress and freedom will be compelled to pay taxes to the Ukrainian government...

I am sorry...

Аnatoly Baranov, editor-in-chief of FORUM.msk

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