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Bush Proposes Spectrum Taxes on Broadcasters to Speed Digital Transition

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 8, 2005 - 3:06am.
Washington -- In his $2.57 trillion budget proposal submitted to Congress this week, President Bush included a plan to tax broadcasters who don't meet a 2006 deadline for transitioning to a digital signal with a $500 million fee for the use of their analog spectrum. Some lawmakers have been pressing hard for a speedier transition to digital, as they estimate an auction of broadcasters' newly freed analog spectrum could bring the government up to $100 billion. Congress has already imposed a deadline of the end of 2006 for broadcasters to switch from analog to digital broadcasts, or else when 85% of Americans have purchased the new televisions required to receive a digital signal. While incoming House Commerce Committee chairman Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) has said he wants to impose a strict deadline, broadcasters have balked at the idea. "For more than a decade, Congress has wisely rejected spectrum taxes on broadcasters because lawmakers recognized the timetable for transitioning to digital television will be determined by consumer acceptance of this new technology and not by arbitrary, budget-driven timelines," National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton told Reuters.
tags: Broadcasters | Bush | Spectrum | Taxes | Digital Transition |

House Votes to Permanently Ban Taxes on Internet Access

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 17, 2003 - 6:40am.
Washington -- The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to permanently extend a moratorium that prohibits state and local governments from taxing Internet access. The five-year-old moratorium was set to expire in November. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), also will plug loop holes that have allowed 13 states to tax some forms of Internet access and 10 others to continue taxing access through an exemption. Lawmakers have supported the bill as a way to keep Internet access affordable. The bill now goes to the Senate. In July, a Senate committee approved a very similar bill.
tags: Internet | Ban | Taxes | House Votes |

FT: Vivendi Looks at Plan to Avoid $2 Billion in Taxes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 5, 2003 - 8:09am.
Paris -- Vivendi Universal is studying a plan to sell and buy back parts of its U.S. entertainment business to avoid U.S. tax liabilities of up to $2 billion, according to a report in Monday's Financial Times. The idea of a sale and repurchase is an effort to avoid break-up liabilities Vivendi would face if it split up the subsidiary combining Universal Studios, television and theme park assets. U.S. tax authorities and regulators would probably not endorse such a scheme. Vivendi declined to comment on the FT report.
tags: Vivendi | Taxes | FT |