5 years ago... Brown scraps business-mobile levy

10.03.99 IT staff who use mobile phones while working offsite will no longer have to pay tax for the privilege. In yesterday's Budget speech, UK Chancellor Gordon Brown said he will scrap a £200 annual tax on company mobile users - a move that will cost the government £25m.

A government spokesman said the tax puts an unwelcome burden of record-keeping on employers and that Brown's decision highlights an understanding of the importance of the mobile phone in modern life. The tax was introduced by Conservative Chancellor, Norman Lamont in 1991.

The mobile industry gained a further boost as Brown announced tax relief for operators buying a third-generation licence.

10.03.04 There are so many things that come to mind when re-reading this story. It's hard to imagine anyone ever thought taxing an enabling technology such as the mobile phone - responsible for how many billions of pounds in net increase in productivity? - but then we remember all the other money siphoned off from technology purchases.

And it's hard to imagine that this was probably one of the first times that silicon.com used the phrase 'third-generation licence'.