European Commission thinking of 14% tax on GPS or TV-capable Mobiles??

By Ben Robinson on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 3:07 AM PST In GPS, Mobile TV

The N96 has GPS AND TV - would that be a proposed tax double-whammy?

The EC is considering putting a 14% import tax on handsets with integrated GPS or TV!

Apparently there are already import taxes on devices with external TV tuners, but Mobiles are currently exempt - however the EC believes that since the Mobiles can do more than simple phone functions, then they ought to be subject to different taxes. The effect this would have is to penalise those handset vendors external to the EU, which would include the likes of Samsung, and LG, amongst others.

Non-EU vendors though are claiming the actual effect of that tax might be up to 25%, and the “European Information and Communications Technology Association” (which includes companies like Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), and LG) is lobbying strongly against the proposed tax changes.

Well, well - not a good suggestion in my view, and one which would create a number of issues - ultimately though, more expensive handsets for you and me