Virtual Economies Attract Real-World Tax Attention

doug141 writes to point out a Reuters story on the attention tax authorities are beginning to focus on virtual economies. From the article: "Users of online worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft transact millions of dollars worth of virtual goods and services every day... People who cash out of virtual economies by converting their assets into real-world currencies are required to report their incomes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or the tax authority where they live in the real world... 'Right now we're at the preliminary stages of looking at the issue and what kind of public policy questions virtual economies raise — taxes, barter exchanges, property and wealth,' said Dan Miller, senior economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress."

Comments

Re:Congress strikes again

[generic-man]

News flash: When you make money, you owe income tax on it. Doesn't matter if the money comes from real-world work, virtual-world work, services, corporate gifts, or even illegal activity. The second you get U.S. dollars for your work, the IRS gets to claim a chunk of them.