Turns out it's not entirely the whole story. According to the city,
"It has a business-privilege license that is required of any business operating in the city. The license costs $50 a year or $300 for a lifetime license."Hmmm, what are the penalties if they don't register for this 'business-privilege' license?
In an article on wired.com titled 5 Myths About Philadelphia’s ‘Blogging Tax’,
"It covers any business in the city of Philadelphia, whether you’re a multinational oil company or (in principle) a kid running a lemonade stand"so everyone is being treated equally. Oh wait, the kid with a lemonade stand pays the same as a multinational oil company? If you happen to make money online with your blog, and live in Philadelphia, the city wants a cut.
Turns out this story was a big buzz even in Great Britain, although this article is quick to quell the rumor.
"The problem is "people not taking five seconds to realise it's not a blog tax, it's a tax on all the commerce in the city," says Sean Blanda, co-founder of tech news site Technically Philly and an ex-employee of the City Paper. "But people thought it was an affront to free speech. It says nothing about free speech." As Blanda wrote on his blog : "There is no 'blog tax' in Philadelphia. None."Question; should the city be counting local bloggers income as taxable or should bloggers be treated as global citizens - exempt from local fees? Does a city or municipality have the right to charge a fee for operating a business online, even though the business owner is typically not using city resources? Or, is making money on the internet a valid way to shelter your income? You can always set up an offshore mailing address like other companies with much larger bank accounts!
Well if the business is created and managed within the city i feel its totally appropriate to charge a income tax. and with the whole offshore account well if your side business had the kind of money to set that up it wouldn't be a side business blogs make money purely on advertising and it takes a lot of time and a lot of luck to make any good money off a blog site. its only fair for everyone to be taxed equal. also pretty soon the whole world will be internet based it only makes sense to tap into the taxes of that market.
ReplyDeleteby tegan
I think there are two kind of bloger in the society.One is for business which people introduce the product or goods to society. The other is for personal which people write diary or non profitable things.If government try to be paid the tax on bloger, the government only makes the bloger who write for business pay the tax. Because, we can't price on the personal idea. How people can price on the diary,poem,and the other personal ideas? I think if the government put on the same price on each works, it opposites the human right. Each ideas have different value. So, I think the government should not force tax to the bloger who write personal things.
ReplyDeleteBy Fumiya Hashizume
I think technically bloggers should be considered global citizens and should be exempt from local fees in regards to their blog income. I don't think a city or anyone else has the right to charge a tax for having a business and making an income online, because the internet is a different dimension and should be untaxable. The internet is what connects the entire world and removes the boundary of "local," or any regulation done by cities or municipalities because the online business isn't using any of the cities resources to run the online business. Making money off the internet is a convenient loop-hole if making your income, I think it's a clever way to avoid paying government taxes. Although it was just a rumor in Philadelphia, earning an income online should not be taxable.
ReplyDeleteBy Elise Erlandson