Independent Polish Media Black Out Coverage to Protest Tax

[TaylorSwift 162,444]

Independent media outlets in Poland suspended news coverage Wednesday to protest a planned new advertising tax that they view as an attempt by the right-wing government to undermine press freedoms.


A letter signed by 45 media companies said the tax would be extremely burdensome. Media operating in Poland for many years pay an increasing number of taxes, levies and fees to the state budget (CIT, VAT, emission, copyright, licences, frequencies, booking decisions, VOD fees, etc.).
 

PiS lawmakers have said foreign media companies have too much influence in Poland. “It can’t be that the poor get poorer and the rich get richer,” said PM. He avoided addressing the publishers’ main complaint, that the tax is an unfair effort to extract money from largely Polish media operations, instead focussing on how it will affect online behemoths like Facebook or Google. The government says the tax will raise money after state finances have been badly strained by the coronavirus pandemic.


Critics of the government say it wants to increase state control.


The protesting companies say the tax will create further inequalities between public and private outlets, adding that it would be another hit to independence.


Poland’s public broadcaster, TVP, is also covered by the tax, but it’s been the recipient of an enormous $534 million subsidy and is also supported by mandatory user fees. TVP is tightly controlled by PiS (right-wing ruling party) and has been turned into a pro-government propaganda outlet.


The tax could amount to anywhere between 2% and 15% of advertising income, depending on the size of the company.

source  source source source