Britain considers introducing a levy for watching YouTube and Netflix
The UK government is considering extending the annual television licence fee to users of streaming platforms, including YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+. If the corresponding changes are adopted, households that currently do not pay this fee will have to spend an additional up to £180 (about $240) per year.
This is reported by The Independent, citing sources in the British government.
Currently, Britons are required to purchase a TV Licence if they watch live television on any device or use the BBC iPlayer service. The licence fee from April 2026 is £180 per year.
At the same time, for watching videos on YouTube or films and series on Netflix and other streaming platforms on demand, such a licence is currently not needed. This gap is precisely what the British authorities plan to eliminate.
According to The Independent, the government is preparing a proposal to extend the licence fee to online video content regardless of platform and device on which it is viewed. The initiative has already been unofficially labelled the "YouTube tax".
One government source told the publication that the current system allows millions of users to watch video content on smartphones, tablets and computers without paying the fee, which is the main source of funding for the BBC.
It is not about a separate charge for each service. If the new rules are adopted as proposed, the television licence will extend to additional categories of viewers. Its current cost is £180 per year per household.
According to preliminary estimates, the changes could oblige another 3-4 million British households to pay the television licence. This would provide additional revenues to the public service broadcasting funding system.
The question of revising the rules arose against the backdrop of declining BBC revenues. According to The Independent, for the financial year ending 31 March 2026, the number of valid television licences in the UK decreased by about 539,000.
In total, over the past five years, their number has fallen by about 2 million. At the same time, BBC receives about £3.8-3.9 billion in annual licence fee revenues, but for the 2025/2026 financial year, the corporation recorded an operating deficit of £121 million.
It is expected that the additional funds from extending the fee could be used to support local journalism and counter disinformation. At the same time, sources acknowledge that even the additional revenues will not necessarily cover all the BBC's financial needs.
The proposal is planned to be included in the government document on updating the BBC's Royal Charter, which is to be published by the end of 2026. The current charter, which defines the principles of governance and funding of the corporation, is valid until 31 December 2027.
The new funding rules for the broadcaster may come into effect within the next charter from 2028, but no final decision has yet been made regarding their content and timing of implementation.
The UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed that they are considering various options for reforming the television fee, but stressed that no final decision has been made yet.
Therefore, at present, watching ordinary videos on YouTube or on-demand Netflix content does not require a television licence in the UK. The requirement may change only after the new rules are approved.
Based on materials from: The Independent, UK Government, House of Commons Library
