News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

April 14, 2006

money

Are you sure you paid your taxes?

Posted Apr. 14, ’06, 12:27 PM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Money

States that tax digital downloadsSure, you may think you’re all set, what with your copy of TurboTax Deluxe, but beware: depending on where you live, you may have to pay an extra tax on all those Toto Jessica Simpson Rilo Kiley songs you downloaded from iTunes.

And of course you can count on the government to want a slice of iTunes proceeds. Fifteen different states (and the District of Columbia) have enacted a tax on intangible items bought online, such as music from the iTunes store. Details of the tax differ from state to state; sometimes it’s collected at the time of sale, sometimes on tax day.

My home commonwealth of Massachusetts has had a “use tax” for some time now that asks consumers to report how much they bought from out of state retailers, via catalog or the Internet. Which, in my opinion, is a great idea. “Hey, let me spend time compiling how much money I spent on buying stuff online so I can give the government more money.” Brilliant. You can imagine how many people actually go through the trouble. They haven’t included downloads under that rubric yet, but really, from a place nicknamed Taxachusetts, can that be far off?


1 Comments

Derik Author Profile Page said:

Oh, come on. You know you love the Use tax.

Next week, they're instituting a tax on sneezing.

April 14, 2006 10:43 PM

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