"Using a television without an appropriate licence is a criminal offence. Every day we catch an average of 1,200 people using a TV without a licence. There is no valid excuse for using a television and not having a TV Licence, but some people still try - sometimes with the most ridiculous stories ever heard. Our detection equipment will track down your TV. The fact that our enquiry officers are now so well equipped with the latest technology means that there is virtually no way to avoid detection."
-- from the official website of the British Television Licensing Authority, May 2003
I've never heard of such a thing... Who would have thought you'd have to pay a special tax to own a television? This tax goes mainly to fund the BBC. Apparently they used to have radio tax as well, but this became too hard to enforce with transistor radios...
Can anyone tell me what the point of this tax is, other than to generate more revenue for the government? How would this form of taxation be justified?
The Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949 (and then amended in 1967) states that anyone who possess a television set as a means of receiving broadcasted transmissions must obtain a licence. All televisions in homes must be licensed. Televisions on college campuses must be licensed. Televisions in hotels must be licensed. Televisions in cars need a separate licence. This work is done by the Television Licensing Agency (TVLA).
Wow...