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Look out New Yorkers - an "iPod tax"?

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by johnmcgrew

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New York Governor David Patterson's new budget has an unpleasant surprise for anyone who purchases digital media; a "digitally delivered entertainment services" tax. As the title suggests, this is a tax that would apply to any media purchased and delivered on-line.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/12/16/2008-12-16_gov_david_paterson_unveils_dire_new_york.html

With governments at all levels in fiscal crisis, how long will it be before we finally see the barriers against Internet taxation fully breached?

I already see a short-term business opportunity for someone here (you can send my a royalty if you make this work; I'm just too busy): A server/service located outside of New York that would act as a proxy for the purchase of online media, and then you simply download from that server.

4 replies

by charliespencer

Most states can't enforce existing sales taxes.

There's an old military axiom: Never give an order you know won't be obeyed. The governmental equivalent should be, "Never pass a law you can't enforce."

by dadspad

add tax to iTunes downloads in other states, this would just be one more.

So it seems the State of NY can get tax out of IPod sales.

by jdclyde

when the socialist spy sent from Canada to destroy our economy (Granholm) threw an additional punitive $.75 PER PACK tax on smokes.

It was tracked back, with on-line vendors getting their books audited. A lot of people found themselves with THOUSANDS of dollars in back taxes they were forced to pay for tax evasion.

The only reason it isn't enforced NOW is because the dollar amounts for each purchase haven't been large enough to make it worth the expense of tracking it down. The smokes changed that.

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