How to ask for the bonus to buy a new TV or a decoder

The decree regulating the provision of incentives to purchase a new television or decoder was published in the Official Gazette in view of the changes that will be introduced starting from September 2021 and which will concern the digital terrestrial signal. The bonus introduced by the Ministry of Economic Development will serve those who do not have a television suitable for the new standards, and will allow some people to buy a new television with a discount or a decoder that decodes the DVB-T2 signal (which usually costs around the 30 EUR).

The incentives can be requested as early as December 18, 2019, and will allow you to get a discount on the equipment. The contribution will be recognized in the form of a discount on the sale price (including VAT), for a maximum amount of 50 euros or equivalent to the selling price in the case of some decoders. The bonus was reserved by the Ministry of Economic Development for families with an equivalent income (ISEE) of up to 20,000 euros, and in total, allocations of 25 million euros were made by the government for 2019, 76 million by 2020, 25 millions for 2021 and 25 million for 2022.

How to ask for the bonus

To apply for the bonus, simply present a self-certification certifying that you are within the income bracket that can benefit from the incentive. It will then be necessary to deliver an identity card and tax code, the details of which will be entered by the shopkeeper on the Revenue Agency's website to assess that the customer has not already received the bonus. Once the incentive has been paid, the retailer will be entitled to recover the sum discounted by a tax credit, to be indicated in the first useful tax declaration (using the F24 form). It is also specified that if the purchase is made with sellers operating in other countries of the European Union, the recovery of the credit will take place by means of procedures that will be specified within one month of the publication of the decree. Furthermore, the Ministry of Economic Development will have 15 million euros to use between 2019 and 2022 to carry out commercial communications and inform about the use of incentives.

The news with digital terrestrial

Starting from the first of September 2021 it will gradually move from the current transmission through the DVB-T1 system (Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial 1) to a next-generation and better quality one, called DVB-T2, which may not be compatible with TVs that are more than two years old. Many people may therefore have to change their TV to continue using the digital terrestrial signal. Furthermore, along with the transition to the DVB-T2 system, it has also been decided to switch to a different system for encoding audio and video signals: the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 standards will gradually be abandoned and the HEVC standard (High Efficiency Video Coding), of higher quality

These changes will take place in stages, to allow all users to adapt and adapt their televisions. Between the first of September 2021 and 20 June 2022, television broadcasters will have to abandon the MPEG-2 video standard in favor of the MPEG-4 standard, which is the one used for video on the internet and allows greater compression of the transmitted data. In this first phase the transition to the DVB-T2 transmission will not be mandatory, but it will be possible for broadcasters who prefer to anticipate the transition. Subsequently, between 21 and 30 June 2022, all the broadcasters will have to pass the DVB-T2 transmission and adopt the HEVC standard.

Which TVs will work and which won't

TVs that work with the MPEG-4 standard have been on sale for ten years, so the transition from the MPEG-2 signal to the MPEG-4 shouldn't create big problems. However, it is possible that televisions older than 10 will continue to work, especially if they are high-end televisions. The transition to DVB-T2 could give more problems, which – explains Altroconsumo – is a widespread standard on many TVs on sale since 2013.

From January 2017 it is obligatory to sell televisions that work with the DVB-T2 / HEVC standard, the one that will be mandatory for everyone starting from 30 June 2022. Altroconsumo says that TVs purchased in 2016 may already be suitable to receive the DVB- signal T2 / HEVC, but this is not guaranteed.

To understand if a TV is suitable for the MPEG-4 signal just go to a channel that transmits in HD (High Definition): if you see correctly the MPEG-4 signal is received correctly. A test can be done with the digital terrestrial channel 501, which is Rai 1 HD. To understand the compatibility with DVB-T2 / HEVC signals, if in doubt, refer to the TV manual. Wired he had given some advice and summarized the most important things to look at.

The news with digital terrestrial, explained