It looks like the Cultural Ministry picked the wrong time for its proposal to levy a 0.8% tax on the internet, mobile content and imported furniture, as the bill is no longer supported even by the governing parties, Napi Gazdaság reports.
The National Cultural Fund (NKA) is hoping to rake in Ft 3 billion (€12 million) annually from the new duty, while losing Ft 500 million (€2 million) from dropping the cultural tax on some other products.
Although initially it received unanimous support from all Parliamentary parties, the new tax proposal shortly came under heavy fire from Internet service providers, online media outlets and internet users alike, prompting the opposition to backtrack a few days later.
According to the paper, now even the governing Socialists–who remain the only advocates of the tax–seem to be dragging their heels over the motion.
One socialist MP, Péter Márfai, went so far as to call the proposal a mistake and motioned to drop it as it is.
Although Márfai said he expressed his own opinion, which didn’t reflect the party’s official stance, the paper suggests this may spell the death of the tax, making it the first government-sponsored initiative to fall victim to the coalition crisis.