The Generalitat moves towards a tax on ADSL to promote the audiovisual sector

The operators would pay 0.25 euros per month for each contracted line, thus obtaining funds for the Catalan audiovisual sector.

This Tuesday, the Catalan Government approved the preliminary report of the draft law to create a tax on Internet operators, with the aim of obtaining funds to boost the Catalan audiovisual sector.

The Generalitat intends to tax 0.25 euros per month on each line contracted in Catalonia with an Internet connection, including mobile telephone lines. With this measure, it hopes to raise around 20.5 million euros, which would be entirely used to subsidize the Catalan audiovisual sector and spread the use of the Internet.

El Conseller de Cultura de la Generalitat, Ferran Mascarell, ha adelantado que el nuevo impuesto estará en condiciones de ser aplicado después del verano. Mascarell ha señalado que el Ejecutivo ha apostado por un “modelo similar” al de otros países europeos, por lo que no ve ningún peligro de que Europa dicte en contra del impuesto, y ha afirmado que esta nueva tasa no “podrá repercutir” en los usuarios.

AMETIC has already warned that if this tax is applied they will initiate legal actions at the regional, national and European levels. The employers' association that brings together operators and technology manufacturers has reiterated its frontal opposition to the fee per Internet connection for each user and has insisted that, if this rate becomes a reality, it will make the decisions and adopt the measures it deems most appropriate in defense of the interests of associated operators.

For his part, Sergi Casamitjana, director of the Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya (ESCAC) of Terrassa, defends that "it is up to the Department of Culture of the Generalitat to make a responsible policy that favors Catalan cinema and not leave it in the hands of Internet operators to obtain resources."