Back in December, Governer Paterson had unveiled a new tax proposal that had a section entitled "Close Digital Property Taxation Loophole" in it. Detailed in there were plans for taxing a number of digitally distributed items, ranging from iTunes songs to Halo map packs in order to "achieve tax parity."
The tax would mainly affect those buying items on the Wii or 360, as the PlayStation Network already charges sales tax for their purchases. The new budget was going to try and help close New York's defecit by about $1.3 billion dollars, according to the governer. But, New Yorkers almost universally rejected it, saying that it was inconvenient and frustrating.
The reason for the proposition dropping was because of the recently passed stimulus bill. Not only did it supply a lot of money, part of the requirement was that the state try and help encourage people to spend money. As such, deciding not to tax DLC and all the other items entailed in the section was supposed to help encourage spending for consumers.
I'm glad to see that the bill has saved a lot of people money, because adding another 8% or so to the general cost of DLC would make it painful for some people, I can attest to that.
[Via Kotaku]
Contest:
8:00 AM on 03.13.2009
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they already tax my car
tax my house
tax my gas
tax my sales
tax my taxes
what else is next?
internet usage tax? oh wait that already happens.
the man - "just put taxes on everything. they'll have to pay it anyway because we say so, and if you tax things people need to LIVE they HAVE to pay it"
don't tax my games that's all i have now =[
The only way to buy MS points in useful denominations is at the store, which is taxed.
I know this is a gaming website... but to say people would be hurting if DLC was taxed 8%? I'm not saying I agree with his (now defunct) proposed tax increases on new items (DLC, soda, et cetera), or that I agree that more taxation is the way to go... But you should really stop trying to look at government and politics from a STRICTLY gaming-centric perspective.
"Mr. Patterson, we've run the numbers. The budget gap can only be closed with a tax increase. We can either cut back more aid to the school system, or tax luxury items such as online downloadable content and soft drinks."
"Bu-. But we need our Lost and the Damned DLC, damnit!."
(I know it ain't as simple as that. But what would you do in his situation?)
Legalizzing mariajuana isn't a step in a right direction , even though the governement gets the taxes and there is a smaller probability of your weed being diluted in shit ; but with it legalized a lot more people are going to use it , and later fo gor heavyer drugs like crack ...
And before you say it, I know there would be a considerable amount of collateral damage. But that's a loss I'm willing to accept.