The tax payable by Spanish telcos to fund the public broadcaster RTVE is again causing controversy.
El Economista reports that ahead of the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Law on Financing of RTVE of August 2009 telcos are demanding “the same rights and identical obligations” for all players that carry out common activities, effectively a fiscal level playing field.
This is taking on addition significance ahead of the formation of a new government by the acting PM Pedro Sánchez and could result in leading foreign audiovisual companies such as Netflix, HBO, Amazon Video, DZN, Facebook and YouTube also being required to pay the RTVE tax.
The Law on Financing of RTVE currently requires all operators who provide fixed-line, mobile and internet access services, as well as those who provide an audiovisual service, to pay the tax.
In 2017, telcos and pay-TV operators contributed 91% of the tax.