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If you`re a service provider or television station conducting business in Spain, your life is going to get a bit more difficult. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the country`s Parliament this week approved a proposed tax on telecom companies. The tax will be used to fund the phasing out of advertising at RTVE, the country`s state-owned television station. France Telecom and Telefonica, the region`s largest telecom service providers, will feel the biggest effect of the new law.

Under the proposed law, which still needs Senate approval, Spain`s government will levy a 0.9 percent tax on a service provider`s gross revenue from the previous year and a 3 percent tax on revenue from "free-to-air" (broadcast) television stations. Meanwhile, the government will place a 1.5 percent tax on gross revenues from pay television stations. Initially, Spain`s government proposed a 1.5 percent tax rate on telecommunications companies, but the Parliament decided to reduce it to 0.9 percent.