McCreevy warns Internet users of new EU levy

national | miscellaneous | news report

Thursday November 21, 2002 10:15

by Sara McEvoy

The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, has warned Irish Internet users that the government may implement a new EU levy on email messages after the next Budget.

The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, has warned Irish Internet users that the government may implement a new EU levy on email messages after the next Budget.

Sources close to the Minister said the Department of Finance was considering the introduction of a levy from senders in the order of 1 cent per email. The maximum amount allowed under the EU Directive is four cent per message.

Under the scheme, Internet service providers would collect a small nominal fee per message on behalf of the Exchequer. The new charges would then be passed on to the consumer. The monies collected would in turn go towards expanding the country's IT infrastructure.

"It is up to each member state how they spend it, as long as it goes to IT-related projects," one official said. The principle was much the same as public-private partnerships to build new toll roads, he said. "It would be similar to the way the monies collected from the recent plastic levy go towards environmental measures."

However, several Internet companies argued that the new EU levy would stifle Internet use in Ireland