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Hungary protests against internet tax

People who hold protests for the second time delivered an ultimatum to the пovernment, asking to renounce the idea of Internet tax

VIENNA, October 29. /TASS/. The second wave of massive protests against the initiative of the government to impose a tax on Internet use has been organized in Hungary. Dozens of people took to the streets of Hungarian cities.

The most massive protest was held in the center of Budapest — according to law enforcement agencies, thousands of people have been taking part in it. They marched through the city and stopped in front of the Parliament Buildings. According to the Hungarian news agency MTI, protests were also held in such cities as Győr, Pécs, Debrecen and Szeged.

The first similar event was held in Budapest on Sunday, October 26th. Then the protesters issued an ultimatum to the authorities, demanding to withdraw the legislation imposing a tax on internet traffic within 48 hours. The tax plan supposes that each gigabyte of internet traffic will cost 150 forints (€0.5)

Even the fact that on Tuesday the Hungarian Parliament discussed the amendments to the law and propounded to fix the maximum tax level couldn’t save from the new wave of protests. Therefore, it is suggested to fix the tax at 700 forints (€2.26) per month for individuals and 5,000 forints (€16.19) for companies. A final vote on the legislation for taxes in parliament, while the majority of it belongs to the ruling party Fidesz — Hungarian Civic Alliance of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is expected on November 18.