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California cities consider adding a "Netflix Tax" to digital entertainment
- Thread starter Guevara
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StopMakingSense
Member
Ha for some reason my mind blanked out the except from your sentence.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
I can't speak to California, but in many jurisdictions cable taxes were implemented to recoup the cost of giving massive systematic tax breaks or cash handouts for cable companies to build infrastructure (in some cases, money that that the companies didn't use for the intended purposes...) -- I am fine with taxing the cable oligopoly into oblivion or nationalizing telecommunications infrastructure or otherwise engaging in targeted pro-consumer or pro-society investment, but not fine with just randomly flat-taxing popular things to fill the coffers.
The Albatross
Member
This seems antithetical to net neutrality.
Edit:
By adding mandatory fees to one type of bandwidth, while not charging those same fees for another type of bandwidth you're giving explicit preference to one stream of bandwidth over another stream of bandwidth.
Edit:
By adding mandatory fees to one type of bandwidth, while not charging those same fees for another type of bandwidth you're giving explicit preference to one stream of bandwidth over another stream of bandwidth.
Livingskeletons
If I pulled that off, would you die?
No please.
Maximus.
Member
People who don't use the services and want to fuck others over because they don't care or understand its benefit.
NoLootBoxDev
Member
Next, tax on air, being alive and free thinking.
Brawndo Addict
Banned
WA does charge a sales tax for Steam purchases, as CA should.
Absent a compelling individualized objection, there is no basis not to charge a sales tax on digital goods. The only reason you didn't pay sales taxes before is because the internet didn't exist when they wrote the law. The free ride is and should be over.
Even if your use of the internet is already taxed? Would that not be double taxation?? Not to mention that 9.4% is much higher than the sales tax in CA.
Someone in here said sales taxes are not applicable to digital goods in CA, but I can tell you that the proposed utility tax is a similar percentage to what sales tax is in CA.
Extending sales taxes to digital goods in CA would have the same effect as this I reckon.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Not really. California funds the rest of the Union because they are a net payer of funds. They take in less money from the Federal Government than they pay out and have for decades.
Brawndo Addict
Banned
You pay a tax to get internet access just as you pay a tax to get water from your local utility. Then you pay another tax when you buy a water filter or hire a plumber, just as you should pay another tax when you buy a good or service on the internet. Why should your internet purchases be exempt from the sales tax when your physical purchases are not? I don't want to pay taxes is not an argument.
Skellig Gra
Member
Taxing Netflix is hardly what I'd call a tax on the poor. If you are poor you probably don't have the extra money for high speed internet and a netflix sub.
Acerac
Banned
There are more people struggling than those who are rich, it's much easier for them to take it from all of you.
The Albatross
Member
But bandwidth is bandwidth. You already pay a tax for accessing that service.
Not to mention, excise taxes like this are regressive taxes that disproportionately affect the poor.
If you're in favor of net neutrality and you're in favor of a progressive tax system, you can't support excise taxes like this.
Excise taxes and sales taxes disproportionately affect the poor over the wealthy. They're regressive taxes where higher income earners pay a lower proportion of their income to the tax than lower income earners do. Whether there are more wealthy people because the filthy poors "shouldn't spend their money on Netflix" or something, is irrelevant to the fact that these are regressive taxes.
TurboButts
Member
Edit: Nevermind
I agree that this is a dangerous precedent. It only takes a little bit of mental gymnastics to line up Youtube next.
I agree that this is a dangerous precedent. It only takes a little bit of mental gymnastics to line up Youtube next.
Why was cable even needed to be taxed in the first place? Internet is expensive as is because of Comcast.
Yes the tax is for online services, but I find it incredibly illegal to tax one service out of many others. Someone could easily just make a video website and upload all the episodes from netflix in order to avoid being taxed.
So much wrong with this idea.
Yes the tax is for online services, but I find it incredibly illegal to tax one service out of many others. Someone could easily just make a video website and upload all the episodes from netflix in order to avoid being taxed.
So much wrong with this idea.
Username1198
Member
Yo we got all this weed money coming in leave Netflix alone you political dbags with your shitty policies and what not.
Does Comcast have anything to do with this?
Does Comcast have anything to do with this?
Right, but Netflix wouldn't be taxed as a good or service. It would be taxed as a utility at a much higher rate. Hence, the double tax.
Brawndo Addict
Banned
I was never arguing in support of a new tax on Netflix or any other digital good/service. I'm arguing that those digital goods/services should always have been subject to sales tax. Amazon stopped fighting this tax issue years ago for good reason.
Say you live in a state with a 5% sales tax and Netflix costs $10/month. You should pay 50 cents per month or $6 a year in sales tax.
The sales tax is regressive but that fact isn't an argument about whether something should be subject to a sales tax in the first place or not. I'm more than happy to talk about tax refunds or credits as a way to try to blunt the regressive nature of the tax on lower income brackets, but that's not what the issue is here.
Skellig Gra
Member
I agree it is a regressive tax, no argument there at all. Something like Netflix is an extreme luxury, it's not even remotely a necessity. Based on the demographics, its middle/upper class young people who use Netflix the most. Low income people are the smallest demographic for Netflix users.
Wowfunhappy
Member
Ah, I didn't understand this. That makes a lot of sense.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
ding ding ding
To Far Away Times
Member
"How do we make up for lost tax revenue?"
"Tax new stuff."
"What if it shouldn't be taxed?"
"Tax it anyway."
"Tax new stuff."
"What if it shouldn't be taxed?"
"Tax it anyway."
IsntChrisL
Member
Tax, tax, tax. California lawmakers are constantly finding new ways to reach into my pocket. I'm really sick of this shit.
This made me laugh more than it should've. But yeah, our state has been run like crap for years. Solution? Keep the status quo.
9.4% tax when sales tax in CA is 7.5%. What's fair about that?
Would the tax increase depending on how much you may use the service?
I am opposed to but understand a tax on the service (9%) or whatever the local city tax is, but fuck right off if your taxing based off the hours I watch.
Honestly though I am already paying extra for the access from my isp, so it just seems to be double dipping off people who are already paying for the internet.
I am opposed to but understand a tax on the service (9%) or whatever the local city tax is, but fuck right off if your taxing based off the hours I watch.
Honestly though I am already paying extra for the access from my isp, so it just seems to be double dipping off people who are already paying for the internet.
NoblesseOblige
Banned
I'd be okay paying a slight tax on my Netflix service. Taxes are important.
The Albatross
Member
Do you have a source for this or is it a theory (?), because according to this 2015 research study -- Low income users are Netflix largest demographic. A profile of recent Netflix subscribers reveals that 42% of Netflix users earn less than $50k/year house hold income, 35% $50-$100k/year, and 23% $100k+/year.
$50,000/year is below the median household income in the United States, so, statistically, no, low income people are not the smallest demographic for Netflix users.
The idea that Netflix is just a luxury for the rich is wrong, considering that Netflix is much cheaper than cable, and over 80% of American households still have cable, so it's not like cable or Netflix are luxuries only reserved for the rich. Having cable or streaming Netflix does not indicate that you're rich.
HawksWinStanley
Member
Soooo for people like me who pay for cable and also have a Netflix sub we just get fucked from both ends?
NoblesseOblige
Banned
Well yeah, you're paying for cable so you're getting boinked in all three ends by default.
Goldenroad
Member
Next you're gonna tell me there implementing a tax on chillin.
It's just funny is all coming from a community that leans very left of center to hear it complaining about taxes. Taxes that fund the very largess government left leaning people tend to like.
As an independent who wants a tiny government and less taxes, this is fun thread to read...
Skellig Gra
Member
This was the last numbers I saw, granted both of our surveys are a point in time.
Yeah, the Chicago Cloud Tax. It wasn't about streaming services as much as any service that uses cloud storage/access. Everyone got really upset about it when it first got announced, but people have largely forgotten.
gamechanger87
Member
Nah man. We should just keep raising tax revenues to fund the ever expanding government because it is run at 100% efficiency.
NullPointer
Member
Both of these.
Wouldn't new taxes on pot alone overcome any supposed shortfall? And isn't internet access already taxed?
HawksWinStanley
Member
I thought cable was outrageously priced (and it is) but then I started breaking down the numbers of what I'd have to pay to drop cable and get basically the same service as now and it really wasn't much different at all.
Once you add in the Hulu, Netflix, all the live sports subs, HBO, Showtime, the price of unbundled high speed internet, etc. I was barely saving. All this shit is just too expensive regardless.
StopMakingSense
Member
9.4 is probably the effective sales tax rate in Pasadena, adding in city and county taxes.
Ryzaki009
Member
Meh. They only care about it if they can use it against you when you're a threat to them. Piracy is too widespread for them to really bother unless they get something out of it.
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