The Great TV Licence Scam

[ccole]

Only BBC receive TV license money so why should I pay it if i don't watch BBC? Joke!

[shaunbhoy]

You're not really a "Fight The Power" kind of guy then, are you?

In a nutshell. He is just the sort of compliant forelock-tugging lickspittle that stealth taxes are designed for.
Fortunately there are still enough people around to confront this type of thing to make change at least, a possibility.
I wonder if he pays all his other bills yearly in advance too?

[NickFitz]

No TV so no license. Doesn't stop the constant harassment.

The other year I relented and let the TV Licence guy in, having previously refused them entry. I showed him that although there was a very old TV in the living room, it was in a corner on its side facing the wall, and not connected to either a plug socket or aerial. He agreed that I didn't need a licence, tapped the relevant bits on his handheld Windows CE machine, and went away. Since then, I just got one letter every two years asking me to go online and confirm that I still didn't watch telly as it was broadcast, and nothing else. Turned out to be a worthwhile use of about a minute of my time every couple of years, if only to save having to shred the accusations of treachery that had been arriving monthly in the post before that.

I've got a licence since they changed the rules about iPlayer last year though

[Pip in a Poke]

The other year I relented and let the TV Licence guy in, having previously refused them entry. I showed him that although there was a very old TV in the living room, it was in a corner on its side facing the wall, and not connected to either a plug socket or aerial. He agreed that I didn't need a licence, tapped the relevant bits on his handheld Windows CE machine, and went away. Since then, I just got one letter every two years asking me to go online and confirm that I still didn't watch telly as it was broadcast, and nothing else. Turned out to be a worthwhile use of about a minute of my time every couple of years, if only to save having to shred the accusations of treachery that had been arriving monthly in the post before that.

I've got a licence since they changed the rules about iPlayer last year though

Yes, I'm always on the verge of refusing to renew mine and the damned BBC go and produce a wonderful series like Planet Earth 2 and I have to relent.

[WTFH]

In a nutshell. He is just the sort of compliant forelock-tugging lickspittle that stealth taxes are designed for.
Fortunately there are still enough people around to confront this type of thing to make change at least, a possibility.
I wonder if he pays all his other bills yearly in advance too?

Poor ickle snowflake.

Let's see -
Line rental, yup pay annually as it's considerably cheaper.
Car insurance, annually, it's cheaper.
Car tax, annually, it's cheaper.
Council tax, 1/2 yearly, it's cheaper than monthly.
Standing charges on water/sewage, annually.
Accountant, annually
Company insurance, annually

Oil, I pay for it to go into a tank before I use it.
Food, I pay for it in a shop before I eat it.
Fuel, I pay for before i use it.

In fact there are very few consumables that I don't pay for before I use them. The only exception I can think of right now is in bars/restaurants where you pay after eating/drinking.

[fullyautomatix]

There are a lot of fat cats stuffing their faces with tax payers cash and paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses who really really depend on the plebs paying the TV license fee and the council tax. If the pleb started to figure out devious ways of avoiding this, where will they fund their excesses?

[shaunbhoy]

In fact there are very few consumables that I don't pay for before I use them. The only exception I can think of right now is in bars/restaurants where you pay after eating/drinking.

So you couldn't "think" of water, gas, electric, or don't you pay for those at all because you still live at home with your parents?

[NickFitz]

There are a lot of fat cats stuffing their faces with tax payers cash and paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses who really really depend on the plebs paying the TV license fee and the council tax. If the pleb started to figure out devious ways of avoiding this, where will they fund their excesses?

Yes, they're called Capita: The BBC's TV Licensing Service | capita-dis.co.uk

"It is expected that Capita will earn £1.10bn – £1.55bn from its contract with the BBC if it runs its maximum 15 years from July 2012." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Televi...subcontractors

[NotAllThere]

Ha ha. I pay nothing to watch the BBC.

OTOH it's £360 a year for the opportunity to watch Swiss TV which also gets income from commercials. So stop whining. It could be a lot worse. Here, it's viewed as a household poll-tax.

[vwdan]

The other year I relented and let the TV Licence guy in, having previously refused them entry. I showed him that although there was a very old TV in the living room, it was in a corner on its side facing the wall, and not connected to either a plug socket or aerial. He agreed that I didn't need a licence, tapped the relevant bits on his handheld Windows CE machine, and went away. Since then, I just got one letter every two years asking me to go online and confirm that I still didn't watch telly as it was broadcast, and nothing else. Turned out to be a worthwhile use of about a minute of my time every couple of years, if only to save having to shred the accusations of treachery that had been arriving monthly in the post before that.

I've got a licence since they changed the rules about iPlayer last year though

See, I just couldn't bring myself to do this - allowing an individual from a private organisation into my house to prove I'm not breaking the law, on the basis that I haven't purchased something that they simply assume I should have.