TV and redevance audio visuelle

[Gardener]

Under what circumstances is the redevance audio visuelle not applied?

We have a tv that can only receive channels via a orange tv box, we don't have an aerial or satellite. If we return the Orange box, then we can't watch French TV. So no RAV would need to be paid or would it?

If we used the TV as a monitor just to watch purchased DVDs, and I haven't tried setting this up yet. Would RAV be payable then?

[NormanH]

I understand that if it is a TV set you have to pay, but if it is just a computer monitor you don't, but am open to correction.

You could always watch TV on your computer screen as I do, using something like adsltv

[Gardener]

Thanks I have just been looking at the impots gouv site and it all seems a bit bizarre to me.

If I have read it correctly then it appears that a computer and TV card is RAV free but if one has a VCR, DVD Projectors that are used with a screen of whatever sort then they become similar to a TV and RAV is payable. So on that logic even if we dumped the TV at the dechetterie I would have to pay RAV for my son's small 9" portable dvd player!

[NickP]

[quote user="NormanH"]I understand that if it is a TV set you have to pay, but if it is just a computer monitor you don't, but am open to correction.
You could always watch TV on your computer screen as I do, using something like adsltv
[/quote]

I think that you are correct in your assumption about watching live streaming TV, unfortunately the state money grabbers will soon realise the situation and act accordingly.

[NormanH]

I believe an attempt was made a while ago, then rejected, but I have no doubt that you are right longer term, given the drive towards austerity.

[Danny]

[quote user="Gardener"]Under what circumstances is the redevance audio

visuelle not applied?

We have a tv that can only receive channels via a orange tv box, we

don't have an aerial or satellite. If we return the Orange box, then we

can't watch French TV. So no RAV would need to be paid or would it?

If we used the TV as a monitor just to watch purchased DVDs, and I

haven't tried setting this up yet. Would RAV be payable then?[/quote]

Having an aerial or satellite dish makes no real difference.

At the moment, if you have any equipment with an internal tuner - TV,

video recorder etc - then you are liable to pay the fee. That is why

VCRs etc are classed in the same way as TVs.

If you only have a

monitor or any screen - like most computer monitors - without a built in

tuner and also use a DVD player (not recorder, as this normally has a

built in tuner) then you are not liable.

If the portable DVD player just plays DVDs and does not have a tuner then by itself, it does not count as equipment that is liable for the RA.

There is an interesting issue with analogue TVs (i.e. those only equipped with an analogue tuner) as come December, they will no longer be able to receive TV with their tuners anywhere in France.

I could see a reasonable and logical argument being made to the tax office that it should no longer be classed as a TV then but it is just a monitor as it would not have a functioning tuner.

Danny

[NormanH]

Thanks for your usual well-informed clarity[:)]

[Gardener]

Thanks Danny and Jane.

So does the sticking point revolve around whether or not you have a tuner, even if the tuner is obsolete?

My old TV obviously must have a built in tuner, because I could watch programs on it pre 2009(?) . As it isn't a digital tuner, I can't watch anything without an external box.

Even though I have a TV with an obsolete tuner ( or one that cannot receive TV channels anymore in it's own right) , if I used this just as a vehicle to watch DVDs via a DVD player (no tuner), I'd still wouldn't be exempt?

I am not trying to bend the law just don't see why I should pay towards channels that I can't receive and it seems daft to buy a monitor to use with a dvd player when I already have something that would do the trick.

[Danny]

If your area has changed to digital TV transmissions and your TV only has an analogue tuner then, as I said, you could argue that it is no longer equipment capable of receiving television signals under the definitions given by M les impots.

Here is a discussion on the same subject. It even has a handy ready made letter to send to the the tax office and a positive reply from the tax office that the person concerned in this case is no longer liable along with a reimbursement[:)]

http://www.tvnt.net/forum/fin-de-l-analogique-et-redevance-t21412.html?sid=58d286a98d19d34a91fde60c22a3584f

Danny

[JohnM]

If I understand the situation correctly, in the UK it is an offence to operate a tuner without a license (even if you are not watching any "transmissions" ... i.e the TV is turned on to watch a DVD). However, in France it is an offence to "own" a tuner without a licence (so even if you never turn it on you still need the license).

Happy to be corrected.

[Gardener]

Thanks for the link J and D. As soon as I return the orange tv box, I will write to the tax office and see what they say.

[Gyn_Paul]

The UK argument has always been that if you own the 'capability' to receive transmissions, then you are liable to pay the licence, not just if you turn the set on. If - having once paid a licence fee - you decide one year to disconnect your telly and put it in a cupboard for 12 months,  you'd have a pretty slim chance of getting a refund.

However, all this is drifting from the point..

I will be surprised and astonished if the Redevance people are sufficiently, technically clued up to make the distinction between a digital tuner and an analogue one, at least on the first pass, but we'll see

p

[NormanH]

I believe that the usual way of checking is by the shop selling you the new TV to inform them.

People with older UK TVs might be harder to trace..

[Rabbie]

Legally in the UK you need a TV licence to watch BBC programs via the internet

[Gyn_Paul]

This is true.  Since I last looked the TV licence web site has had a make-over, and now says :

Watching TV on the internet

You

need to be covered by a licence if you watch TV online at the same time

as it's being broadcast on conventional TV in the UK or the Channel

Islands.

Video recorders and digital recorders like Sky+

You need a licence if you record TV as it's broadcast, whether that's on a conventional video recorder or digital box.

Mobile phones

A licence covers you to watch TV as it's broadcast on a mobile phone, whether you're at home or out and about.

Which is all well and good, but in the olden days, when detector vans could roam the streets with their revolving roof-racks it was relatively easy for them to detect the working of the local oscillator in the tv's tuner (I believe). Now we have flatscreen TVs and iplayer ??? Not so much, I suspect.

I can't see how the man knocking on your door these days would be able to prove you were watching TV off the internet (£££), or TV recorded on your computer's HDD (£££) as opposed to - say - You Tube (free).

paul

 

[nomoss]

How ludicrous is it to administer a separate tax which almost all the population has to pay? It is just another of many small taxes which add to the burden without generating much controversy, which most simply accept out of habit.