RTVE banks almost €300 million in taxes from telco, from TV rivals

Iñaki Ferreras ©RapidTVNews | 07-05-2012


Almost certainly infuriating Spain’s hard-pressed TV players even further, the Spanish government has revealed that Corporación RTVE has banked €296.8 million on taxes from the national private broadcasters and the telecommunication operators.
This tax was established in a resolution adopted by the Council of the Market Commission (CMT) and is a huge benefit for the national public broadcaster whose budget from the government was slashed by just over €200 million following the new government’s election in November 2011.
Of the money received by RTVE, Spanish telcos contributed a total of €218.7 million. "The amounts assessed by the total electronic communication operators and service providers in television, both in open as conditional access, do not exceed the limits…respectively, of total expected revenue for 2011 by the Corporación RTVE, and therefore no refund to the obligors to pay the contributions specified in that law, "said the regulator.