A number of people in the Czech Republic recently received a truly indiscriminate letter from Czech Television. It openly threatens them with significant fines if they do not comply with the payment of the so-called concessionaire fees.
They will calculate it all for you
It must be said that the diction of the entire message that you receive by registered mail is really annoying. It’s like it’s assumed that you’re doing something wrong and breaking something, even though that might not be the case at all. Moreover, it is not entirely clear from the text what will happen when and how.
“We found that your name is not listed in the register of television fee payers,” begins the message as if it were an obligation to be in such records. Furthermore, it is already explained that if you own a television set, you must be in this register and start paying fees.
“If you do not do so, Czech Television will be forced to assume that you are supposed to pay the television fee, but you do not. In this case, you risk a surcharge and the obligation to pay back all arrears for the entire period of use of the television receiver,” the letter says.
This message actually says that if you don’t register, Czech Television will still assume that you have to pay the fee and will also charge you a fine of CZK 10,000, as stated below, and will also add up unpaid fees. However, the question is how it will find out how long you have not paid the fees. This can be a matter of dispute and proving it will be difficult.
The same questions
However, the letter is extremely confusing, because on the one hand it calls for registration, but then it states: “If you do not respond to this call within 30 days, we will be forced to include you in the register of taxpayers.”
But what to take from it? In which case you will pay a fine. When you log in yourself or when you don’t log in? And why does it log you in automatically? And in that case will you pay a penalty or not?
However, the letter also gives the option to opt out of paying the fees. You are entitled to this if you do not own a television set, or if you are exempt for social reasons, which means that your household income is lower than 2.15 times the subsistence minimum. But for this purpose, you must fill out and send an affidavit.
Read also: Czech Television will no longer receive a single crown. Czechs found a way to pay nothing. And it is done
Let’s add that the concessionaire fee for Czech Television currently amounts to CZK 135, but it is soon to be increased to CZK 160. In addition, people who do not have a television, but have, for example, a mobile phone, where they can also watch CT productions, are also supposed to pay it.
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