The last week in Britain saw the announcement of this year’s Budget from the Conservative Party Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne in which such things such as tax, benefit and other economical announcements for the next few years are revealed to the parliament and the public of Britain.

One of the lesser known parts of this year’s budget was the announcement that from 2015, Britain is going to start adding VAT (Value Added Tax) to the price of digital media, increasing the prices consumers will have to pay to receive digital content such as television programs, music and much more. With VAT currently set at 20% in Britain, that’s not something that could be considered a small change, this will make a difference.

Personally, while I can see reasons to implement VAT upon digital media it does feel as if those with less money once again lose out. Pushing up the prices of digital media will only discourage people from buying it, especially in today’s economy when more people than ever have to watch their spending. The argument could be made that digital media is not a necessity, but I have always been of the mind that entertainment is the only thing that stops people from going insane. With a television licence costing £150 for a year and many people not being a fan of everything that is broadcast in your typical television schedule, more and more people are looking online for their entertainment and are perfectly willing to pay a little bit of money for their content so that the people who make the media they enjoy can afford to keep making it (as long as the pricing is fair for both sides).

There’s a very real chance that the addition of 20% extra fee to the price of digital media could lead to an increase in piracy, hurting the people who make the digital media in the first place.