[interestednovice]

Yes, the BBC is not a state service, but it is a near-universal service and one which is used by the vast, vast majority of the country. It’s also the case, as others have said, that wider society benefits from the BBC’s existence. Other countries do fund their PSB broadcasters, in some cases, via direct taxation which all citizens have paid into.

Saying that there has got to be a way for a hermit living under a rock to opt-out of the LF, just because there always has been in the past, doesn’t necessarily follow logic. One of the problems at the moment is that it costs a lot to both collect and enforce the LF, despite most people paying it and it being “equivalent” to other taxes in that there is, realistically, no get-out clause (most people would not be willing to never watch any live tv just to avoid the TVL). If that’s the case, then a more automatic system would both save money for the BBC and ensure greater compliance.

You could also provide means-tested relief (such as for anybody on pension credit, etc) easily if Councils collected it, and you would at the very least change to a “default opted-in” state where, if you wanted to not pay the LF, you would have to opt-out in some way and explain that you didn’t need to. Currently, a lot of people may claim they’ve simply “forgotten” to renew their LF if/when they get asked why they have not paid.

That’s assuming that you would still have some criteria rather than it being a flat levy, but honestly I doubt there would be a massive backlash against a flat levy if it replaced the existing TVL overnight. Yes, the minority who don’t pay the TVL now would moan - but they would, in the end, be ignored. The BBC could in some ways sell it as a plus as they would say it would simplify matters not to have to manually arrange your own TVL and also cut down on evasion (and nobody likes the thought that they are paying for a service while others are getting a free ride).