Digital Taxes?

Your purchases on the Playstation Network, Xbox Live, and the Wii shop channel might be a little more expensive.

Cnet's news blog reported that a possible tax on digital downloads are being pushed by politicians which could affect video game users.

Currently 16 states and the District of Columbia have endorsed a tax on all digital purchases in order remedy budget woes. (See the complete list below)

The article notes:

"Some opponents fear that broad definition could sweep up everything from electronic tax-preparation services to video games to advertising, causing new headaches for online retailers and their customers."

This could mean that your downloadable games and content could be taxed.

My question is how are they going to regulate that?

I'm not sure how one could designate where someone is purchasing the digital information. The internet is not exactly a state or nation that has clear boundaries.

However, I can see how forcing consumers to register their product in a specific state could attempt to remedy the problem, but one could always lie.

Nevertheless, there are ways to track the location of where people are located such as the "Where are you?" box to the left on this very site.

But even that can be mirrored or circumvented.

I'm not sure, but this could be bad things for fans of digital downloads, but tracking you down could be a little difficult.


Below is the list of states that have supported the digital download tax:

Alabama
Arizona
Colorado
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
New Jersey
New Mexico
South Dakota
Texas
Utah
Washington
West Virginia
The District of Columbia