Bakom figures recalculated
According to NZZ am Sonntag, the new media tax will generate around 130 million more annually for the SRG than the existing levy. The Federal Council assures that the amount would be adjusted downward if this should indeed be the case.
The new levy for households is to be around CHF 400 instead of the current CHF 462. The Federal Council promises that the transition to the new system will be revenue-neutral: Neither will more fees be collected nor will the SRG receive more money.
According to NZZ am Sonntag, this calculation does not add up. If the figures from the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) are to be believed, revenues should increase by a total of almost 200 million francs, and there would also be significantly more money left over for SRG.
The NZZ am Sonntag's calculation is based on the figures in Bakom's fact sheet "Die neue Abgabe für Radio und Fernsehen. In it, the office reckons with around 145,000 paying companies and 3.302 million households liable to pay the fee in the event of a system change. Multiplying this number of fee payers (after deducting households without reception equipment) by the planned tariffs of 400 to 39,000 francs, this results in a total revenue of 1.53 billion francs, according to NZZ am Sonntag.
That would be almost 200 million francs more than the Billag fee brought in in 2013. And according to this calculation, SRG should also receive more: under the new system, less (a maximum of six percent of total revenues) would go to the private broadcasters; after all other deductions, SRG would be left with around CHF 1.34 billion. That would be 130 million more than in 2013.
For Hans-Ulrich Bigler, director of the trade association, this fits in with the obfuscation tactics of the proponents. Bakom did not want to comment in detail on the calculation. However, it writes that the figures used in the fact sheet are from 2012 and 2013, and no one yet knows how they will develop until the planned entry into force of the law in 2018. In addition, inflation must also be taken into account.
The office reiterated to the NZZ am Sonntag that the system change is in no way intended to provide the SRG with more money. "If revenues turn out to be higher than envisaged, the Federal Council would set the amount of the levy correspondingly lower than the envisaged 400 francs." Definitive calculations will be made in 2018, if the bill goes through.
However, if the number of companies and households continues to grow as it has in the past, it is quite conceivable that the Federal Council could then be taken at its word and demand a further reduction in fees, the article continues. (NZZ am Sonntag/sis)
