A Committee of MP’s cosisting of 6 Labour MP’s , 3 Conservative  and 2 Liberal Depmocrats all agree that the Governments proposed 50p ‘broadband tax’ is unfair. They consider the tax to be an ill-directed charge saying that most of the people who pay the tax will not benefit from it.

‘The charge will have a greater impact on the less well off who will be paying for an enhanced serivce which only a minority will enjoy’, said the report which was published on Tuesday.

The plan for the 50 p tax was announced last year by the Government in its Digital Economy Bill. The Government promised a universal minimum speed of 2Mbps for all parts of the UK by 2012 followed by a super speed broaband by 2017. It is intended that the  this will all be paid for by the 50p tax which all landline customers will pay.

However this tax will only raise about £175 million a year and many in the industry say that the fund will not cover the amount needed to provide such a service to every home in the UK. BT have already estimated that the cost is more likely to be around £5 billion.

The MP’s on the Commitee believe that funding for the broadband should be done out of general taxation and not as a seperate levy on landlines.     

The Conservative party has already said that they will scrap the scheme if they come into power  at the next gereral election.