In a speech to business leaders in Hanover he said, “Private use
of the internet in the workplace is tax-free.” He added that those
who access the internet from their own personal computers for work
are entitled to tax breaks.
The plan to impose the tax had been met with industry criticism,
arguing that it would discourage use of the internet in Germany,
notwithstanding the bureaucratic nightmare of regulating the
tax.
However, the German government is still planning to levy a
recently announced tax on equipment such as computers, modems,
printers and CD burners that can be used to reproduce material
subject to copyright laws.
