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States Seeking Levies on Digital Downloads
evdubs writes "15 states and the District of Columbia currently tax online media, with others eager to begin their own taxes. The RIAA estimates that domestic sales totaled $503 million last year, but that figure doesn't include movies, e-books, online video games and other forms of digital media. Perhaps the most interesting point in this article is the way states, looking to start taxing online media, are trying to use the interpretation of previous law and apply it to digital media. In Washington, politicians are using their definition of software (already taxable), 'a set of coded instructions designed to cause a computer...to perform a task,' to justify taxation of online media because 'they cause some action by a piece of hardware to play them.'"
thats why I've already started giving away some of my software for free with support. By signing a support agreement, my tools can be licensed for use for free by your company... I'm not selling them, you can't tax them.
meh
In Kentucky, I pay $1.07 for a song from iTunes. For some reason, my state feels the need to collect on content that didn't originate in the state, isn't served by an employee that works in the state, isn't stored on servers inside the state, and isn't necessarily even bought inside the state (a purchase made on a laptop while on vacation, for example).
For me and my state, adding that $.08 to cigarette tax would be much more productive. I wish they would do that instead.
If the levy breaks, will there be a torrent?
Unknown host pong.
"music downloads fit the definition of personal property", according to a Kentucky government spokesperson.
Does that mean that when you pay for a download and it disappears after a month or you can't move it to a different device, that the Kentucky government will prosecute the company responsible for violating your property rights?
Conversely, if the software makers can argue "this-software-is-licensed-not-sold", how could there be a sales tax?