Tax point xy

A 10,000-strong rally against the Internet tax ends in riots in the center of Budapest

A mass rally took place in the center of Budapest against the government's plans to introduce a tax on Internet traffic in Hungary. According to Reuters , about ten thousand people took part in the protest.

Updated: On October 31, it became known that the Hungarian authorities abandoned plans to introduce an Internet tax. After the first protest, a 100,000-strong march took place in the capital of the country against the proposed document, after which Prime Minister Viktor Orban withdrew the bill from parliament, citing criticism from society and representatives of the IT industry.

A rally against the so-called Internet tax took place on the evening of Sunday, October 26, near the building of the Hungarian Ministry of Finance on József Nador Square. The action was organized in a few days with the help of a group created by activists on the social network Facebook.

Gathering in the square, protesters began chanting slogans, demanding that the authorities abandon plans to introduce an Internet tax. Then the rally participants raised their mobile phones with flashlights on them.

The square also passed a resolution giving officials 48 hours to withdraw the internet traffic tax bill from parliament. Otherwise, residents of the capital promised to take to the streets again.

What they are proposing is a double tax. I have already paid everything I owe when I paid the exorbitant VAT on the purchase of my gadgets, computer and router. So this is a good opportunity for all of us to come out here and show that we are unhappy with the government's economic policies and its taxes. Atilla Sosh, rally participant

A few hours later, the rally against Josef Nador resulted in a spontaneous march through the historical center of Budapest. Some of the protesters headed to Heroes Square, while another part of the activists went to the nearby headquarters of the ruling conservative party Fidezh.

At the headquarters, the protest turned into riots. Activists began throwing old computer keyboards into the Fidezh building and broke several windows, provoking clashes with the police.

A bill to introduce an Internet traffic tax in Hungary from 2015 was introduced into the country's parliament on October 22. The document proposes to impose a special fee of 150 forints (about 25 rubles) on each gigabyte of traffic starting from 2015. Providers and telecom operators will have to pay the fee.

Despite the fact that the tax does not directly affect users, many Hungarians believed that companies would be able to shift the tax burden onto them by increasing home and mobile Internet tariffs after the tax was introduced.

#Internet #Hungary #state regulation of the Internet #tax on Internet traffic