UK government cancels broadband tax
The UK government has officially confirmed that the Labour initiative of a broadband tax is now dead in the water. As many had expected, while additional funding will be made available from the government to help assist the creation of broadband networks in more rural areas of the UK the vast majority of investment in the UK broadband sector will be left to the private sector. This is a welcome announcement for UK broadband users although it does place some pressure back up on the private sector.
Many people believe that the broadband tax initiative was nothing but a stealth tax on UK consumers, many of who now have access to the Internet. It did seem the perfect income generating idea when you consider that the Internet is now a more integral part of the UK economy than ever before. Now it looks as though the vast majority of investment in the broadband sector will be left up to British Telecom which is currently in the process of completing a nationwide superfast fibre-optic broadband network which will cost billions of pounds.
It will be interesting to see whether UK consumers are willing to foot the bill for this investment in the future broadband infrastructure of the UK.
Share this..
Related stories
Disruption in Greek public sector
There is mass disruption in the Greek public sector today which has affected transport, hospitals and emergency staff up and down the country. Yet again there is friction between the Greek public sector workforce and the Greek government as they attempt to push through massive budget cuts under the auspicious or the European Union financial bailout. Should we be concerned about the new disputes?...
Read MoreTax scams on the increase
HM Revenue and Customs has revealed that 83,000 scam e-mails were sent to UK taxpayers, supposedly from the tax authorities, in September 2009 alone. On one day it was reported that 10,000 of these "phishing" e-mail were received which are nothing more than scams to get your personal details. Unfortunately, while 83,000 attempted scams have been reported, many more which have either been ignored o...
Read MoreRestaurant tips no longer count as pay
In what has been one of the longest running loopholes in UK taxation, the UK government has revealed that restaurants who pay employees less than the minimum wage will not be able to "top up" wages with tips. This has been a gripe of many in the restaurant and catering industry for some time with a suggestion that proprietors were using tips from customers to make up any potential shortfall in emp...
Read MoreThe UK budget deficit is getting worse
News that Britain's budget deficit reached a colossal £13 billion in June alone, the worst figure on record for this particular month, has further deflated the balloon of those who believe the UK economy has turned. Despite constant denials by the UK authorities regarding the perilous state of the UK finances, the recent IMF (International Monetary Fund) report which cited the UK as potentially a...
Read MoreWhat about the additional 90,000 offshore accounts undeclared?
While the UK government has enjoyed something of a success with the recent announcement that 10,000 UK citizens holding money offshore have now declared these previously unknown assets this is not the end of the story. It is believed that an additional 90,000 UK citizens have not taken the opportunity to declare their overseas assets and their overseas income and the UK government will now need to...
Read More