New Jersey Moves Forward On Plan To Tax Internet Downloads

from the sad,-but-true dept

With local governments whining and complaining about how they're "losing" all sorts of money thanks to their inability to tax VoIP and other new internet-related activity, you know that trouble is brewing. Over in New Jersey, for example, it looks like they're moving forward on a plan to tax plenty of new things -- including internet downloads. If passed, that $0.99 song from iTunes will start costing $1.05 instead, sending it over the "magical" $1 line. It certainly has all the makings of an urban legend, but apparently it's for real this time. New Jersey isn't even being very original. The state of Wisconsin has been considering the same thing. Of course, what's missing from these discussions is any explanation for why the state of New Jersey should be able to collect taxes on something that has absolutely nothing to do with the state.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Chomper, 22 Jun 2005 @ 7:08am

    No Subject Given

    Cos' in New Jersey, we have a bunch of dumb liberals who don't know how to balance a budget or be honest.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Magnanimous Coward, 22 Jun 2005 @ 7:24am

    No Subject Given

    The only way I can see NJ collecting this is if they ask people to pay it voluntarily.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Victor, 28 Sep 2005 @ 11:43am

    Seriously?!?!?!?

    I really don't care who loses money over what. If I'm in a business and I see my earnings start to drop, I would tend to think that I should change my tactics or something. Not go out and start taxing anything and everything so that I really don't have to do any work. And what is the problem with free things anywas? Why does it that everyone has to make $4 Million a year? I'd be happy with $80,000 a year [which is still a lot but you know what I mean]. This is just insane.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.