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!
