You need a license in Britain to have a TV? That’s weird.
The British TV license funds BBC.
You pay for BBC whether you watch it or not.
“You need a license in Britain to have a TV? That’s weird.”
True. Color TV’s, radios, satellite TV, etc. Effing’ draconian, big brother type stuff. I personally know a Brit who went to Best Buy and started weeping because the BB guys didn’t ask him for a license.
They tax EVERYTHING in GB. You wouldn’t believe the cost of a pint of bitter and a pack of smokes.
I can remember when I lived there the dreaded “TV License Van” fairy tale they would tell people. Apparently (and I think fabricated), they had vans that would detect if someone had a TV in their home. Then they would get a knock on the door. I kid you not. Used to scare people into paying for (Anti-American) “Aunty Beeb”. It’s like us being forced to pay for PBS.....and all its propaganda.
BTW, they have a VAT there, too. At the time it was 17.5%. Be CAREFUL when people wish for the same here.
Go on YouTube and watch the UK TV Taxman confrontation videos-its awesome!
Its like the DUI/inland border checkpoint refusals in the US, these people know their rights and stick it to the man! LOL
Germany too.
I assume most European countries do as well.
Is it any wonder we started shooting at them?
the license fees pay for the BBC, which means it is vastly wealthy, radical left and inefficient as all get out
I don't know if they still do it, but the used to have truck drive around looking for TV signal emissions from houses so they could bust unlicensed owners.
Sounds pretty Big Brother.
Weird rules require weird enforcement.
At first, I was interested in the topic of black and white television sets, but I was astounded by the fact that you need to have some sort of “license” to operate a television set in England. That part of the story is mind-boggling. How long has this been going on? How does the government know if you have one or not?
If we had not already declared our independence in 1776, I could imagine the colonies having a Boston “TV” Party, tossing all of our black and white sets, and our color sets, into the harbor along with the tea.
“You need a license in Britain to have a TV? That’s weird.”
Yea!you have to go to the post office to by the license.I’m surprised ourvown F.C.C. has’nt tried to do something like that to fund PBS.
it’s how they pay for their state-run tv channels. been that way forever.
Could be worse - Australia also has state run television and radio (the ABC) modelled on the BBC, and it’s paid for out of our taxes. At least in the UK, you can choose to avoid paying for it by not having a television - Australian’s don’t even get that choice. We have to pay whether we own a TV or not.
Yes in the UK you need to pay a tv license fee..its a tax for the being able to watch the “free” over the air BBC..in some ways in how we have satellite tv but from the goverment
It’s not a license, it’s a TAX.
That’s correct. What’s more you have to have a license for each TV. The government has vans equipped with electronic sensors that can determine where each TV is at. This info is compared with licenses issued to determine if a residence has an unlicensed TV. At one time you needed to have a separate license for each radio but that was dropped some years ago.