A few months ahead of the federal election, the Albanese Government has delivered a commitment to support commercial television and radio broadcasters by suspending the Commercial Broadcasting Tax (CBT) for one year.
The CBT is a charge for the use of spectrum by commercial radio and television broadcasters. As spectrum is a finite and a public resource, the CBT has been imposed to ensure the efficient use of spectrum.
Broadcasters have long argued that the tax on spectrum is unfair because social media companies aren’t taxed on how they deliver their services via the internet. They have been lobbying the government to scrap CBT altogether.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the one-year suspension, which was mooted in December, will apply from 9 June 2025 to 8 June 2026 and has been implemented by way of a 100% rebate of the CBT liabilities of all commercial television and radio broadcasters, reducing their liabilities to zero.
This effectively saves TV and radio broadcasters $50.3 million. It is estimated that Seven, Nine and Ten stand to save a combined $45 million in the 2024/25 financial year.
Those regional commercial television and radio broadcasters currently eligible for a partial rebate of their CBT liabilities will be entitled to receive the 100 per cent rebate for one year, after which their partial rebate entitlement will resume.
“The sector continues to face a challenging operating environment, which is why the Government is providing relief by suspending the Commercial Broadcasting Tax for one year,” Rowland said.
“This measure is in addition to the Government’s delivery of media reforms to modernise the regulatory framework, the provision of stable funding arrangements for the Viewer Access Satellite Television service and our commitment to work with industry on a plan to secure the future of free-to-air television across Australia.”
Weeks ago Seven’s news boss Anthony De Ceglie described the CBT as “a tax on journalism”.
“If the prime minister is genuinely worried about the toxicity of Facebook and Meta and X and TikTok … then bloody well give a helping hand to the journalism that fights for facts,” he argued in a pointed Melbourne Press Club presentation.
Free TV, which lobbies the government on behalf of the commercial TV sector, welcomed the suspension.
“The Commercial Broadcasting Tax is really just a hangover from the old super-profits tax of the past,” Free TV CEO Bridget Fair said. “It is well and truly time for it to be permanently abolished.
“It undermines the ability of all broadcasters to compete fairly with digital platforms and global streamers, who do not face the same tax or regulatory obligations, yet compete with and sell advertising against commercial broadcasters.”
