Illinois Considers Taxing Custom Software

Foobar_Zen writes "Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is proposing to tax custom software; he is hoping to generate $64 million. You can read the story at burrwolff.com. I am wondering if there any other states that currently tax for custom software? How is this going to affect Illinois? What does this do to independent application and software developers?" And what about software that adds value but itself is available without charge?

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The third bullet in the article

[Killjoy_NL]

3. Tax private non-retail sales of watercraft

What's watercraft? Like witchcraft, but wetter?

Re:The third bullet in the article

[AllUsernamesAreGone]

Mhhh... watercraft float on water, witches float on water. Therefore watercraft must be witches!

Can we burn them?

Re:The third bullet in the article

[skasingularity]

It's blizzards latest game where Orcs and Humans battle it out over the high seas... ...I heard its going to be bundled with Doom 3 this summer.

Re:The third bullet in the article

[martingunnarsson]

Sir Bedevere: No, no. What else floats in water? Peasant 1: Bread. Peasant 2: Apples. Peasant 3: Very small rocks. Peasant 1: Cider. Peasant 2: Gravy. Peasant 3: Cherries. Peasant 1: Mud. Peasant 2: Churches. Peasant 3: Lead! Lead! King Arthur: A Duck. Sir Bedevere: ...Exactly. So, logically... Peasant 1: If she weighed the same as a duck... she's made of wood. Sir Bedevere: And therefore... Peasant 2: ...A witch!

I'd be more worried about

[JTunny]

3. Tax private non-retail sales of watercraft

More expensive yachts = increase in price of a CD

Re:Yeah, fantastic idea!

[mtrupe]

He's a Democrat, what else should we expect?

Praise all the hindu gods!

[I.AM.BLORT]

oh praise be that the infedels have seen fit to send my family even more work! my family thanks you, and my ancestors thank you. please now tax local call centers and make my extended family very very happy!

Re:What exactly does "custom" mean...

[andr0meda]

I know perfectly well it will be the lawyers and legislators. But what are they actually thinking, and why?


"This is a hold-up! Gimme all your money!"

Re:The free/Free software

[AwesomeJT]

I don't believe this is true in the US. According to copyright laws that I am aware of, if you get PAID for the work you generate, then unless there is a special condition, the BUYER gets the copyright. That's why if you work for a company -- either salary, contract, freelance, etc -- and they PAY YOU to program -- they keep the source and the rights to it.

I've copyrighted a few programs about 10 years ago, so I believe that was the case at least then. I believe that notice was listed on the actual forms to submitting for the copyright.

Now if you DON'T get paid for the work, then the AUTHOR maintains the copyright regardless of who uses it and for what purpose -- again unless expressly transferred otherwise (to another party, public domain, etc).

Imagine!

[FireBug]

Just imagine a Burrwolff of ... er, wait a minute...

Re:The free/Free software

[stu_coates]

I'd write the custom software for free... just as long as they paid me a decent hourly rate to drink coffee while I was doing it! ;-)

Taxes don't generate money.

[AnotherBlackHat]

...he is hoping to generate $64 million.

Taxes do not "generate" money.
If he wants to make money, he should get a job.

-- this is not a .sig

New tax law! Vote for Billco!

[billcopc]

We should vote for a tax on stupid governors. There's your complete medical budget right there.

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves

[AtariAmarok]

"Read the Article then Bitch"

Uhhh. where does the comma go in the parent's title?