Double Taxation in Second Life
Congress to Probe Virtual Economies
This article has already made its rounds, but I think it is quite interesting. Congress is investigating the virtual phenomenon. They are trying to figure out to what extent the Government should be involved.
Another article, Are Virtual Assets Taxable I have read says their reason against any form of taxation is that it would create a lot of work for the companies creating the games. That’s not a very interesting argument, because it is also a lot of work in RL for stores to keep track of transactions.
The idea is primarily that when you withdraw your money you should declare it as income and therefore be taxed on it. The way I see it is you are taxed on your income, you invest it, then you either make or loose money, then you pay tax on it (or not, depending).
If the IRS was to tax the income in the game, then that money should go to support the game. Otherwise our players within are supporting us on the outside. That, of course, begs the question of an Avatars rights.
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