News | Sunday, 20 December 2009

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Minister abandons plans to tax junk mail

James Debono
The government has officially shelved plans to tax businesses inundating letterboxes with unsolicited commercial mail, this newspaper has learnt.
Last year, the government proposed in its budget a 1 cent tax on every 80g of paper delivered for free on a door-to-door basis if more than half the content of the publication consisted in adverts. The tax also applied to magazines handed out for free in newspapers. The measure was presented as an attempt to reduce “vast quantities of waste.”
But no reference to this tax was included in the 2010 budget and when asked by MaltaToday, a spokesperson for the finance ministry confirmed that “the government has decided not to implement the tax.”
According to leading door-to-door distribution companies in Malta, all it takes to avoid receiving unsolicited mail is a notice on your postbox advising against it.
However, once households express the intention to refuse direct mail, they would be automatically opting out of receiving official notices, local council information, parking discs, residents’ parking scheme information or other information related to closure of streets distributed by the same companies.

Refusing junk mail
www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/11/29/t15.html

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