By Margit Feher
BUDAPEST--Hungary's government should revoke its plan to tax
internet use from next year as it will be detrimental to service
providers, internet users--individuals and companies alike--as well
as to the public, the country's largest telecommunications company
Magyar Telekom Nyrt. (MTELEKOM.BU) said on Wednesday.
Under its draft 2015 tax bill submitted to parliament on
Tuesday, the government plans to impose a 150 Hungarian forint
($0.62) tax on every gigabyte of data used.
"Magyar Telekom supports the proposition of the industry players
that the government should revoke its plan to launch the tax," the
company said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.
The plan is "drastic" and wasn't preceded by any consultation
with the sector, Magyar Telekom added.
The tax may result in the internet providers paying as much as
100 billion forints ($414 million) a year in tax, which would make
it impossible to develop broadband in Hungary and a modern economy
built on the internet, the company added.
The new tax would be levied in addition to the special,
telecom-sector tax telecom companies have already been paying since
2012.
Magyar Telekom is majority owned by Deutsche Telekom AG.
Write to Margit Feher at margit.feher@wsj.com; Twitter:
@margitfeher