New York considers taxing iTunes downloads
New York wants a share of iTunes' money.
The state is staring at a $15.4 billion deficit so Gov. David Paterson is proposing an "iPod tax" as part of his state budget. Under the plan, New York would charge state and local sales tax for "digitally delivered entertainment services," according to a story in The New York Daily News.
That includes e-books downloaded to Amazon's Kindle as well as for the digital songs obtained from Apple's iTunes. If the state legislature passes the governor's plan, the price of digital content for New Yorkers is sure to go up. The tax would also apply to sporting events, movie tickets, taxis, and satellite TV and radio.
Wow. To some Manhattan residents, Hoboken, N.J., may be looking better all the time. But wait, New Jersey is among the 17 states that already tax downloads, according to my colleague Stephanie Condon. She wrote back in August that states taxing digital entertainment include Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington.
California and Wisconsin considered similar proposals, but they were defeated. Tech industry groups like NetChoice, which counts eBay, AOL, and Yahoo as members, have been lobbying against the rise in so-called iTaxes.
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET. 
New York is just gonna do it coz its low on cash. It will use every measure to gain revenue.
http://news.cnet.com/The-tax-man-cometh-after-iTunes/2009-1022_3-6059914.html
- Tim Connelly, spokesman, Massachusetts Department of Revenue
No tax in Mass as of August 2008.
The state government is getting a nice cut for doing basically nothing.
"The sales tax rate here in Oregon is a big fat 0%. "
You make up for it by the state income tax instead. Between being taxed on how much I make versus how much I spend, I'd rather go with a sales tax. That's my choice to make then by what I choose to purchase.
Unfortunately you don't get a choice in the matter. Each state has their own setup.
Actually, we don't. My income tax rates here are pretty low compared to neighboring Utah and California (especially California!). Property taxes are just a small bit higher than what I was used to seeing in Utah (but still lower than California).
Washington (where you live, IIRC) has no income tax, correct? You get to make up for that in some pretty heavy sales taxes, gov't registration fees (I re-up my car license plates once every two years - how much does it cost you each year to re-do yours?), road taxes, property taxes, etc etc.
Personally, I like the no-sales-tax thing. It avoids penalizing the poor and middle-class just for buying stuff they need (groceries, a car, etc).
/P
Additional taxes levied on sporting events, movie tickets, taxis, and satellite TV and radio?
Stop buying them for one week and see how the politicians react!
*sigh*
Unfortunately, Americans simply sit on their couches, drinking soda, eating chips and getting fat(ter), dumb(er) and happier while government rakes them over the coals.
As for the government getting a nice cut for doing absolutely nothing, those taxes pay for your schools, highways, hospitals, wars, civil servants, etc. and it seems by them not charging them on digital downloads it seems as if it was more of them being nice to promote something new, just like corporate tax cuts to promote expansion into certain areas. Yes its more painful when its taken out on teh average joe, but like SixVodkas said, unless you want to become like the French and hit the streets in protest you are stuck with it.
If more time was spent observing the french rather then hating their fries you would have noticed they are great at getting what they want from their politicians. try taking away a smoking break in that country and see what happens.
I'll pay the sales tax in NYS for my digital download, but refuse to pay any additional tax. The state is already taxing cigarettes by about 100%, so I think the next logical product to overtax is alcohol. Especially in times likes these (when alcohol consumption is up), the state can pull in some additional revenue.
Instead of Amazon.com, they just buy from amazon.uk.
How are they going to stop you goign through a proxy to make your transation appear to come from out of state?
If i buy a physic product (for example a dvd-box), then "somebody" can define that i live in a specific state/country using my dest address.
But for a virtual product is different, you can buy a virtual product (such download a movie) using a UK account and downloading inside USA.
Otherwise, "Oh look, there's a fly on the moon! ... Let's tax that!"
a) You are taxed by the geolocation where you are downloading the stuff.
or
b) you are taxed by the registration location (or bank address).
if a), then, can you use a proxy ?.
if b), then can you ask for a bank account in another state?.
Increased Government=Bad, Reduced Government = Good.
- by 3rdalbum December 19, 2008 1:47 AM PST
- Do iTunes songs cost more in states where they are taxed?
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(35 Comments)I don't remember reading about higher prices in some states, so if New York taxes iTunes downloads then it probably won't affect us, unless Apple decides to increase prices for everybody.