EU to tax e-mail, text messages?

[peat moss]

European Union lawmakers are investigating a proposed tax on e-mails and mobile phone text messages as a way to fund the 25-member bloc in the future.

A European Parliament working group is reviewing the idea, tabled by Alain Lamassoure, a prominent French MEP and member of the center-right European People's Party, the assembly's largest group.

Lamassoure, a member of Jacques Chirac's UMP party, is proposing to add a tax of about 1.5 cents on text or SMS messages and a 0.00001 cent levy on every e-mail sent.

Source: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6077464.html

[Damnatory]

Sure, I'll pay a tax on text messages, IF THEY WERE FREE! I pay over $15 a month just to use the service with unlimited messaging, why the hell should people be taxed on top of the money they already pay for it... That's just absurd.

[Guillaume]

Lamassoure, a member of Jacques Chirac's UMP party, is proposing blablabla

Never mind. It won't go that far.
Chirac and his cronies are just trying to give themselves a bit of a countenance, to make people forget the shit they've caused in the country and the scandals they're involved in at the moment.
Just what they did a coupla years ago with a tax on plane tickets to finance international help to third-world countries.

[Filliz]

And how the hell are they going to check how much emails you send anyway?

[bigword]

And how the hell are they going to check how much emails you send anyway?

i dont think that would be that hard, since ISPs can moniter ur internet activity. but how would even charge ppl for sending emails, since you dont pay to send emails?

[totalwar]

And how the hell are they going to check how much emails you send anyway?

i dont think that would be that hard, since ISPs can moniter ur internet activity. but how would even charge ppl for sending emails, since you dont pay to send emails?

I would say they would start charging ISP's A new Tax for sending e-mails and if this tax is too high I can see a lot of isp's backing out in giving us a e-mail service at and what about hotmail bang goes that too and any other free e-mail service.

[lynx]

Work it out.

For every 500 billion emails they get enough tax to pay a single employee. He/she is going to be rather busy, I think.

Doesn't sound like a workable proposition to me.

[Darth Sushi]

Well, if they only tax spam messages, they can still make money and reduce the number of pәn!s enlargement emails in my in-box.

[bigword]

well they would only be able to tax emails originating in the EU, so the number of spam mail will not likely decrease. And would they tax u for emails received?

[anytimej]

well they would only be able to tax emails originating in the EU, so the number of spam mail will not likely decrease. And would they tax u for emails received?

this canadian took it all seriously