Harsh voices are raised, and this subject raises pulses to the point that you wish you were an Italian--one used to excepting the fact that you must pay a tax on your TV. Even if it's a piece of furniture that you owned for the past 5 years. I, as an American will not hear of it, I refuse to pay this uneeded insane tax of greed on the part of the State of Italy. I wonder if I invented my own TV and it worked, if I would be summoned to pay this absurd tax. It's not just Italy though, even in the UK they pay, and if you don't--:eek: it's even worse, the Tv Tax hunting vans track you down, and you may even serve a jail sentence for not paying your TV tax.

For this reason I have no television in my house. First of all because I believe italian tv is fake and annoying and second there are 6 reality show in prime time on 7 days per week.
The remaining day is for soccer :-(

In Italy you have to pay tv tax for public service but in public service there are many commercial too. For this reason I don't want to pay this absurd tax anymore.

Do you know that if you have no tv you have to pay for your radio anyway?

Ciao Sapore di sale

Wow... I had no idea of this tax! What is the reasoning...? And the radio? No wonder the people I've stayed with have had no TVs!

And the image of the TV Tax Hunting Vans won't leave my mind now....:eek:

Teresa

Yes, teresa these vans will hunt you down according to some code on your TV, then sit by your home and detect if you are using it. Talk about violations of privacy! With satelite they probably watch us in the shower!

What about radio tax....I never.... if that is what it comes to, they can keep them all...I do not ever watch tv, so I dont care, but the radio sometimes for classical music when Im cooking...I just turn it off when the commericials arrive.

I bet if you have no TV, and they get you for the radio, and you dont have one of those either---that they may tax you on your computer or for every DVD you have in your home.

Wow jacqueline! You listen classica when you cook? you really have style ;-)
I love classical and i adore cooking!
About tax problem don't worried. You have to pay for tv tax and only if you have no tv you have to pay for radio (jacqqueline is right maybe if have no radio you have to pay for your computer cause your computer is a media and you can listen music and watch tv too, but i'm not sure). To check if you pay tv tax they can come to your house and ask going in but you don't have to do that if you don't want ;-)

ciao

I've never heard about the "Tv Tax hunting vans".....maybe because they do not exist!

Giogiogio

Giorgio --I do appreciate others opinions, but to a point. You have absolutely no basis for what you are speaking. The vans exist--- go do a search on the net....everything you'll find at your fingertips! If you watch any practical programs in Italy 'Mi Manda Rai 3' had a show on the Television Tax 6 months prior--and in fact the companies sent out TV people to inspect homes, and businesses-- if they suspected that someone was in violation to paying these taxes they would file a complaint and sue you---There was a huge controversal issue on this. Please have a source to your arguments, thank you.

LEGGI my friend:http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/international/bbc.html

Dear Giogiogio,

Probably not the hunting vans ("Triangolazione", but they get you if you have a CB apparatus and you screw around with it). Regarding the TV sets (wich its now a "tassa di proprieta'" or owner's tax) they send "RAI inspectors" (or at least used to). They can only get in your house with a "mandato" or a warrent if they don't have it you can send them to hell!!
No wonder a few people in Italy pay the TV tax. Watch the "isola dei famosi" (another of those sit-in programs made for morons at the tax payers expenses) or some other crap like this then barf!!
Michael

Does anyone know why the TVs and radios are taxed? I mean, what the government's reason is? And is it a yearly fee? Does it depend on what you watch... ? :p

Classical music is wonderful, and cooking to it would be fun but I imagine you'd have to make sure to have the right music for the right food. Can you imagine what would happen if you tried to cook spaghetti while listening to Wagner??? Or if you were drinking wine while cooking spaghetti and listening to Wagner... that would be even scarier! :eek:

Teresa

You listen to Wagner on the radio: you're taxed.
Have your glass of wine: its taxed.
Wanna come out to dinner with me??... we're taxed!!

mm -

Sure, dinner sounds great - we can split the tax!

Just don't make me listen to bad classical music. :( (If there is such a thing.)

t

Actually most countries in Europe have a tax on the television in fact in Ireland (and other european countries) it is more expensive and the penalities can be much worse than in Italy.

I've never heard about the "Tv Tax hunting vans".....maybe because they do not exist!

Giogiogio


They DO exist - believe me!

In the UK, the TV Licence Fee is £136.50 per annum. It is a charge levied by the BBC. All other channels are 'free' in that they make their money through commercial advertising. Failure to pay the fee can lead to a fine of up to £1000. Failure to pay the fine, if charged, could then land you in prison!

As regards the tracker vans, click this link! http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/1/newsid_2521000/2521357.stm

This is all so strange... and forgive me if this was already answered earlier in this post... are the taxes for actually owning the TV? So if you buy a TV and never ever turn it on, you still have to pay the tax?

Or, is the tax levied if you watch certain channels, or...?

In the USA we have cable channels that we pay for, sometimes it's a lot of money per month/year. The TV itself is tax free.

Teresa

Yes Teresa, the tax is for owning a TV or any video apparatus like a VCR or DVD player. When you buy one of these, your name is sent along to the TV-taxers.

Ostensibly, the tax (or canone) is supposed to pay for the government controlled channels, or RAI. Years ago they didn't have any advertising, and were paid for by the canone. But now things have changed, and there are ads on the RAI channels but not as often as the others. This has brought protest and scandals.

I remember reading a letter to the editor in La Repubblica where someone lived way out in the country and couldn't receive RAI or any other broadcast stations, but they had a TV and only played tapes or DVDs. They were still expected to pay the canone because they owned the apparatus.

Still every year we get letters from RAI asking to pay about 100 Euro for the privilege of owning a TV or other video apparatus. Many of us just ignore them. I got one of the letters after getting my residence here. My Italian brother-in-law told me that he never pays it, and not to worry about it since there are millions of Italians who ignore the letters, and the chances of being caught are very slim.

There are still many odd ideas here in Italy - like you can only buy matches from a tabaccaio, years ago you had to buy salt from them too. You can buy syringes in the supermarket, but you have to go to a pharmacy to buy aspirins vitamins, or band aids. It's strange, but I still love it here.

jim

I cannot believe the crassness of some of these comments. Italian television and radio like many public TV and Radio services around Europe is partially funded by an annual licence fee. You are not obliged to pay it unless you have a television. If you find the RAI service so repulsive then don't watch it. The service brings information and entertainment via TV and radio to millions of Italians who on the whole enjoy these programmes.

I would much prefer to pay a small amount each year to have a public service without the mind-numbing advertising that is such an unpleasant feature of TV in the States. In the UK, the BBC is funded by a TV licence fee and there is no third party advertising - it is a pleasure to watch and listen. It is a pity that Italian politicians cannot get their act together and sort the financing out for the RAI.

The first thing to do would be to try to get the cheats and sneaks like some of the people on this forum who believe that they are superior to the law.
It annoys me therefore that foreigners who want to live in Italy decide unilaterally that they are just not going to make this payment. How arrogant is that? If I lived in the U.S.A. and refused to pay taxes there I would find myself in trouble in short order.

Sure, I don't like some of the Saturday night trash on Italian TV either, but looking at the audience statistics it is clear there are a lot of people watching, many of them senior citizens and people who can't get out for one reason or another. It is a consequence of living in a democratic (and dare I say it, Christian) society that taxes and licence fees must be paid for the benefit of the collectivity. Inevitably the funds can be used for purposes with which we, as individuals, may not agree, but that is no reason to withold payment or, even worse, to boast about so doing and incite others to evade their legal obligations on a public discussion board.

Colci said:

It annoys me therefore that foreigners who want to live in Italy decide unilaterally that they are just not going to make this payment.

Hi Colci,

Yes, I'm a foreigner and I have a problem with the canone, and so do my Italian friends and family. The canone was an outdated idea to pay for the channels monopolized by the government, supposedly without commercial ads. But now that RAI has many ads, the point seems moot. True, there are not as many as there are on Italia 1, Canale 5, Rete 4, etc, but they are there.

The canone is really a tax on OWNING a TV set, which to me is ridiculous. As I posted above, what if someone lives in the mountains where they can't receive RAI, and only uses the TV to play tapes or DVDs?

This is a primitive idea, but those in power have spouted this crap for so long that everyone believes. it. In the US, this is unheard of, and the TV companies do quite well, as witnessed by the terrible american programs shown here in Italy.

jim

[B]But now that RAI has many ads, the point seems moot. True, there are not as many as there are on Italia 1, Canale 5, Rete 4, etc, but they are there. jim

Agreed Jim, - the advertising on RAI is increasing to an unacceptable point, but the fact remains that if more people paid the licence fee then perhaps RAI could get rid of the advertising. The fee (Euro 104 per year) is one of the lowest in Europe and were it not for the dreadful political mismanagement and interference in RAI, the fee could be increased to permit a reduction in advertising. We are, after all, talking about a licence fee (or telly tax if you like) of 2 euros per week - I'd pay that even if I didn't watch any Italian TV, just to see the pleasure on nonna's face as she sits though the latest episode of "Beautiful" or "Isola dei Cretini"

If you look at the licence statistics http://www.abbonamenti.rai.it/Ordinari/Densita_Abbonamenti.asp
you can see that there are nearly 16.3 million subscriptions. That figure means 71.3% of Italian families respect the law and pay the fee - which certainly gives the lie to the assertion that most Italians don't bother paying at all. I'm no expert, but I if understand it right, this implies that there are 22.8 million potential subscribers, and if we assume that there are, say, 3 million households without any TV equipment that would mean that there are nearly 4 million evaders. If they paid up that would add another Euro 350 million or so to add to the Euro 1.7 billion already raised through the licence fee. It would be interesting if someone could find an internet link showing what RAI actually spends annually and what the advertising revenues are.

Interestingly it appears that a higher proportion of people living in the North of Italy paid the licence fee compared to those in the South.

As regards your issue about living in the mountains, the RAI has gone to great lengths to ensure alternative means of receiving their programmes are available as (expsnive ) technology permits. All you need is a satellite dish pointing at the right satellite and FTA Receiver. The government also provides for contributions for equipment for people living in mountainous regions like the Aosta valley.

I am all for having a debate on the future of public service broadcasting but doing so by boasting about breaking the law is not the way to do it.

Colci said:

I'd pay that even if I didn't watch any Italian TV, just to see the pleasure on nonna's face as she sits though the latest episode of "Beautiful" or "Isola dei Cretini"

hahahaha good one.

I'm glad to hear your opinions on this.

I'm not "boasting about breaking the law", it's just a matter of priorities. When many of us are struggling to make it through the month, an extra €100 is VERY hard to justify when we get so little return for the money.

After getting screwed by the Euro, times are tough for many of us. My priority is putting food on the table. I can do without RAI, even though we have a TV. If I turn it off and read a book, do I still have to pay? Or if I only watch Italia 1, Canale 5, Rete 4, MTV (with the sound off) etc., or channels in France, do I still have to pay? If I only watch DVDs do I still have to pay? Why?

jim

Hear ye!! Hear ye!! Hear ye!!

After what happened to me the other day I don't know if to laugh or... laugh louder!!
I got a letter from the RAI (italianTV) stating that I'm supposed to absolutely pay the 'canone' or ownership tax! According to them I own a TV set and signed a contract for it, which I never did in my life, threatening they would sent the Guardia di Finanza over my house if I dont' clarify my position.
According to some of my 'military' friends the Guardia di Finanza doesnt' surely waste their precious time to check if people have TVs or other media contraptions and no judge in his his right mind would waste his time signing a search warrant for a TV set.
On the bill its also stated that people should also pay if they own a PC or any other kind of multimedia appliances. This is pure robbery!!
A good thing I found out is that RAI does not belong to the Italian Government anymore... its been privatised and thus cannot collect government fees. So that's it for the whole story!!
I got some addresses of articles, in Italian, from internet, here they are:

www.associttadini.org/canonerai/
www.lospettro.it/railega_file/disdetta/RAI.htm
www.studioconsulenzaromano.net

Have fun and enjoy yourself:p
Mike