Surely today you are subscribed to Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Premium, HBO or any other series, movie and/or music streaming service. Gone is the time when, in the early 2000s, series, movies, and music were downloaded from eMule or uTorrent. But digital-canon is still in force and is making your PC more expensive than it should.
The first modern version of the digital canon was released in December 2007 and included blank DVDs and CDs, MP3 players, smartphones, and secondary hard drives, among others. Without much ado, in 2017 it was modified to include desktop and laptop computers and even consoles.
Own tax of another time
Those over 30 years old will remember how in the early 2000s download movies, series and music from services like eMule or uTorrent it was normal. Before going to work or school, you left the computer unloading and when you came home, you already had to do. But with the advent of content in streaming like Netflix, Spotify and so on, downloading content has fallen.
Although content continues to be downloaded, it is not even comparable to the number of downloads that were made in those years, where to a certain extent, the canon could make sense. The funny thing is that in 2017 the canon was modified and significantly expanded. PCs are now included, be they desktops or laptops, as well as consoles.
Specifically, for hard drives there are two taxes:
- Non-Integrated Drives: This refers to any storage unit that we acquire on our own. It can be a new SSD to install in our PC or an external hard drive. These units have a canon of 6.45 euros
- Drives built into a computer: Basically it refers to the storage units that are included in our desktop or laptop computer. These hard drives have a canon of 5.45 euros
This makes, if buy a hard drive to upgrade your laptop and desktop PC or just buy a new computer, they charge you the canon. Consoles are excluded, as long as they do not allow the reproduction of content covered by the private copy limit.
We must also point out that the two amounts indicated are without VAT. And it is that at digital-canon we owe them add VAT of 21%, something that technically should not happen, since VAT can only be applied to goods and services. Basically, they are skipping article 4 of Law 37/1992.
Just a fundraiser
Whether you buy a preconfigured PC or build it yourself, you are paying this tax. Laptops, smartphones, tablets, USB flash drives and any storage unit available on the market are taxed. The only way to get your money back is if we can prove that it is for professional use.
The report of the Single Digital Window, which is the one who manages this digital canonin step 2021 raised a total of 52.6 million euros, according to the Executive Report published on the website of the Ministry of Culture and Sport. This amount is slightly less than 2020where a total of 55.2 million euros.
So, when you buy a clone PC, a PC in pieces, a laptop or simply an SSD or HDD hard drive, you know that you are paying the corresponding digital canon plus 21% VAT that is added to the canon.
