Does anyone else find this a little ludicrous
admin | October 18, 2006US Congress launches probe into virtual economies
Booming virtual economies in online worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft have drawn the attention of a U.S. congressional committee, which is investigating how virtual assets and incomes should be taxed.
I know that there is some serious money floating around such virtual communities but this is a little silly. Its still essentially just a game. If they must tax it I would have thought the only sensible way to do it would be to tax you at the point where it becomes real money. Surely it isn’t viable or sensible to try to tax you on the theoretical value of virtual assets.
Well each to their own I guess. Let the accountants have their fun.
Yep. Apparantly Rep. Jim Saxton of New Jersey, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee agrees with you, according to Reuters.
Seems the committee has been put together to stop the IRS taxing MMO games. “The goal of the forthcoming Joint Economic Committee study is to help lawmakers understand the issues involved and head off any premature attempt to impose a tax on virtual economies,” he said.