I was just about to get a new TV this weekend, but decided to postpone it for a week, to scout around a bit. Now my question is
1) Do I have to pay tax only if I buy a new TV? What If I get a TV from a friend, do I still pay the tax? Please note that I have already subscribed for a Cablecom connection, so does this help.

as i understand it, if you have a tv you (technically, by law) have to pay the tax. full stop. the send you a new bill quarterly. it doesn't matter how big it is, how old it is, where you got it from, or even if you watch it or not.

http://www.billag.com/web/de/fragen_...en/geraet.html (German) tells you that with a device capable of receiving TV programmes, you must pay their fee. Ditto for radio reception....

So:
2G/3G phones that can get TV/radio
Computer that can download and play programmes from the internet (as well as TV tuner cards)

are included amongst the "obvious" TV and radio devices (including those, for example, in a car).

To get out of paying you must have a device that has been crippled from being able to play back TV programmes:

Wenn das Gerät technisch in der Lage ist, Programme zu empfangen, sind Sie melde- und gebührenpflichtig. Es reicht nicht, die Antenne abzuhängen oder das Gerät nicht an das Kabelnetz anzuschliessen. Nur wenn keinerlei funktionierende Antenneninfrastruktur (Satellitenspiegel, Zimmerantenne oder Kabelnetzanschluss) vorhanden ist, besteht für das Fernsehgerät keine Meldepflicht.

So the issue is that you have to ensure it can't connect and receive programmes. Given that connecting it to a DVD or VCR means that you can playback recorded TV programming to me creates a caveat that you can either get away with or they can make you pay.

The billag fee consists of radio or TV or both.
Do you have car with a radio? If so, you need a license.

Some people pay up, some get away with no Billag, some people get fined for no Billag. You take your choice...

My personal view: pay up if you have piece of kit that can recieve or display.

In my case, I didn't have TV, however I had to pay because my car had a radio ... in the words from the Helpdesk guy from Billag, after I -uselessly- threatend to remove my car radio: "If your alarm clock also has radio, you still need to pay"

Even if you have a car radio you have to pay. Even a phone counts.

When I had my own apartment in Zurich back in 2000, I did not pay any billag taxes as I did not approach the government to advise them of my use of television/radio. I believe if you don't register with the billag, there will be a billag man knocking on your door one day checking to see if you have a television/radio. And since I had moved out after 12 months, the billag never showed up.
A similar situation happened to a friend of mine who did not register either. In his case, my friend then lied to the billag guy saying he has just moved a few months ago instead of admitting he lived there for 2 years.
Also, my ex girlfriend does not pay either (more than 1 year now). Her strategy is she would never open the door to anyone she does not know ;-)

I guess because of data privacy the billag does not know when some is moving in. I'm not sure though...
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As for me in Dublin here i pay an annual TV license of 155 euros. That is still cheaper than CH TV License. There is no license for radio as such....

I can't think of paying 500 bucks just for TV and Radio. There are little ways of avoiding it unless you really hide tv, radio, mobile etc.

When I moved into my flat, there was something over the arial plug which meant that I had to call someone to come and take it off. I wonder whether this is for Billag purposes or not.

The whole thing worked out pretty complicated and basically I decided against having a TV for TV purposes - I can still watch videos and DVDs though.

I just pay for the radio now.

That was just the cable company protecting their socket so u can't have free cable tv !!

I registered my TV when I bought it, or at least I went onto a website and entered some stuff in Italian. I suppose I could have been ordering a pizza.

So far I haven't gotten anything from them.

As for refusing to pay, I figure it's a tax - if I was going to pick a tax to dodge, I would skip filing my US tax return next year rather than worrying about the TV tax.

That said, for what it costs you'd think the newscaster on TeleTicino could afford a better tie.

Forget about data privacy my friend. As long as it suits the government it will be shared. I remember we discussed this on another friend and someone said that they knew someone who worked in an electronics store and it was their job to send details of new TV purchases to Billag. I've been told that Billag also receives details of new registrations when people move to an area. But since this is dependant on 4000 different communities sending the data in, it might not always happen.

See this thread for more discussion on data protection

Ever get asked for your postcode when you buy stuff from Media Markt? Ever wonder what happens later

Billag guy came round today. I thought at first he was someone to fix the tv (which has pictures but no sound, well, it buzzes loudly). So I said yes we do have a tv, then realised the mistake. now I have a tv licence starting from december in my name for a tv that isn't mine and doesn't work.

also he said it was CHF23 every 3 months when the bill arrived. but now I realise from the internet its CHF23 PER month, its just the bill arrives every 3 months...

I technically don't have internet and said we had no radios so I'm not paying for that but it is still going to be a bit and probably quite a struggle to make my housemates pay for it even though its their tv. I was also under the impression that they HAD a license. when asked about it when I arrived they told me how much it was. I assumed this meant they had one.

this is so annoying. I keep getting the swiss try and bill me for things that aren't mine or that don't need to pay. e.g. as I am in receipt of a grant from the Swiss Governement I don't need to pay residence tax. doesn't stop them trying to make me though. what really got me was when I received that letter it said if I didn't reply in 10 days i was essentially going to be put on their equivalent of emergency tax but the letter ws sent cheaply so took 5 days to get to me. In the end the university dealt with them for me. No such luck here I suppose..

I am told that you don't have to let Billag into your home (or anyone else for that matter). Just say it's inconvenient. That would at least have given you chance to discuss the matter with your housemates.

So how did you get a licence in your name? Why didn't you give your housemates names, or better still refer the guy to them for clarification?

From my experience with such guys in the UK, they can be pretty aggressive, to the extent of charging someone who shouldn't really have to pay.

That sounds like the old amount, and sounds as though the guy was "misrepresenting the truth", to put it politely.

The latest figures can be found at the OFCOM site, where it shows the monthly TV fee as 24.40.

Folks interested in seeing where the money goes can scroll down to the bottom of that page.

It's remarkable how many people behave this way: imagine being so concerned about not paying a TV/Radio licence bill that you don't open the door unless you know who it is! I find that really weird, yet this isn't the first time I've heard this. Wow.

Maybe I'm just too friendly and pay the bills at least I don't live in fear of Billag Man... I actually enjoy watching the TV, and although I admit it IS expensive, other taxes seem quite reasonable compared to neighbouring countries. Swings...roundabouts...

(Although I have nothing but contempt for Billags customer service and the obstacles they place to prevent you from righting their wrongs. It's often easier to pay the bloody bills than contest unfair billings. Swine!)

Let's say I have a TV, radio and every convceivable device capable of receiving all the crap that is being broadcast. And let's say I have never come across this forum. Then, how would I know that I have to pay billag?

A friend got a pacakge from the Geimende asking him to pay billag. I never got one. In fact my TV was purchased in Switzerland, in the same gemeinde I live in. Where, what, how etc. must I go about paying this ridiculous fee. (with interest and adding up all this money, I estimate about CHF 40,000 over 30 years...honestly, does Swiss television improve your quality of life that much?)

you should pay; you should contact them if you have not done so already. It's a licence to receive programming.

Whether you perceive the amount per annum to be value or not, it's government-backed and you simply have to pay.

Contact: http://www.billag.ch/web/

Other reading:
http://www.20min.ch/news/wirtschaft/story/15871915
http://www.20min.ch/news/schweiz/story/20638778

, I estimate about CHF 40,000 over 30 years...honestly, does Swiss television improve your quality of life that much?)[/quote]

Curious where you get your numbers..or your maths........I pay 115.50 per quarter....over 30 years that makes it CHF 13'860.
Its a tax...either its buried somewhere in your income tax, or its more transparent and more of a user pay tax like it is here.....Don't the Brits have a similar system..???

Interesting. You must be one of the fortunate people who get their TV sets for free.

This is another argument that the Billag people refuse to understand when I waste my precious time talking to them and politely asking them to go away. It is totally misleading and wrong for them to tell me I could be watching TV for 115.50 (or whatever) per quarter. This is like saying I could own a car for the cost of an Autobahn vignette. Other traders have been taken to court and fined for less but Billag seems to enjoy a monopoly on misinformation.