Proposed ‘iPod Tax’ May Include Videogame DLC

18 Dec 2008 at 11:23:28 by

A new proposal in the state of New York, if pushed through, will tax all digitally distributed applications, music and content directly from the consumer.

Unfortunate when digitally distributed goods are cheaper due to lack of overheads, property and bills, making the difference between buying digitally worthwhile.

GamePolitics reports the proposed New York budget, backed by New York governor David Paterson, for 2009 hopes to fill a $15.4 billion USD deficit by taxing digitally distributed content under the ridiculously named “iPod Tax”.

The quote from the proposed budget document states:

"Imposes state and local sales tax on purchases of prewritten software, digital audio, audio-visual and text files, digital photographs, games, and other electronically delivered entertainment services to achieve tax parity. For example, with the passage of this bill, a book, song, album, or movie would be subject to sales tax no matter if it was bought at a brick and mortar store or downloaded online."

The major issue is obviously how much of the aforementioned content will cover videogames, and whether monthly subscribers to MMO games will also be hit.

More news on this when we get it.

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