Italy considers SMS tax

Nov 15 2004 - 01:36 PM ET | SMS

Italy is considering a small tax for every text message sent in the country. It has already happened in the Philippines. Here's how it would work: bq. The Premier, Silvio Berlusconi, is considering a one euro cent (0.6p) levy on the millions of SMS messages pinging across the networks every day to pay for promised tax cuts to companies and employees over the next two year, according to a report in the daily Corriere della Sera . About 270 billion messages were sent in Italy last year, so the government could hope to raise €270m (£188m). Italians are furious over the idea (some say that raising taxes in one area to lower taxes in another is futile...)

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