In the coronavirus era, when the possession of networking equipment has become “to be or not to be” on the labour market for many people, the government wants to introduce a reprographic charge, a de facto tax on tablets, smartphones and computers.
Reprographic fee is included in Article 20 Copyright Law of 1994, It includes owners of reprographic devices that conduct economic activities in the field of reproduction of works for the personal use of third parties. They are to pay fees of up to 3% revenue from this for the benefit of creators and publishers, unless multiples are made on the basis of a contract with an authorised person. "These fees are paid to creators and publishers in equal parts," the bill states.
The fee is a de facto new tax that will include electrical devices allowing copying of works. The introduction of the tax was announced by the Minister of Culture, and it is forged by organisations involved in collecting fees on behalf of artists, especially ZAiKS, to which the tax funds are to be paid. The Authors' Association argues that many artists have been left without livelihoods in a pandemic and state aid is insufficient for them. The Consumer Federation strongly opposes this idea. a
The new charge imposed on smartphones, tablets, computers and smart TVs will hit consumers and increase the scale of digital exclusion of Poles – we read on the Federation website.
- This is a very large amount, considering the volume of the market for smartphones, TVs and laptops. The collective management organisation would be about 1,000,000,000 PLN A year. That means that this money will be taken from our home budgets. In a situation where we're all in now, when one laptop at home turns out to be inadequate, these equipment became the good of the first need. This is no longer an exclusive good serving entertainment, every household needs it – often more than one piece. We think that reaching into the pockets of Poles in such a situation is very disturbing – emphasizes Kamil Pluskwa-Dąbrowski, President of the Consumer Federation.
The Federation points out that the proposed fee will actually mean further taxation of what consumers are already paying for. Apart from taxes from which artists receive grants, the recipients themselves choose and pay for streaming platforms (e.g. Tidal, Spotify, Apple Music).
They pay some of the profits to artists, and the Polish government has recently charged VoD platforms (e.g. Netflix, Ipla, Player) with a new tax of 1.5%. In the near future, we are also facing the implementation of the digital tax rules on which the European Commission is working and which will regulate the other platforms.
After the introduction of the tax, the equipment will increase on average 6%, What, in a time of pandemic, when computers are so needed, even for science or remote work, is a very harmful thing.