US Congress steps into cyberspace

[binaryman]

Looks like everyone wants their slice of the pie
US politicians could soon be rubbing shoulders with orcs and night elves in World of Warcraft.

The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the US Congress has announced it is investigating the amount of commerce taking place in virtual game worlds.

The investigation is unlikely to mean that in-game trading will start to be taxed.

Many popular virtual worlds such as Eve Online and Second Life revolve around trade of one sort or another.
READ MORE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6065534.stm

 

[DNWizardX9]

Looks like everyone wants their slice of the pie
US politicians could soon be rubbing shoulders with orcs and night elves in World of Warcraft.

The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the US Congress has announced it is investigating the amount of commerce taking place in virtual game worlds.

The investigation is unlikely to mean that in-game trading will start to be taxed.

Many popular virtual worlds such as Eve Online and Second Life revolve around trade of one sort or another.
READ MORE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6065534.stm

If you look into it deeper it shows that any income earned from the cashing out in the game will be taxed. You are taxed on work income. There is nothing new here. People just thought they could get away without reporting this kind of income.

 

[labrocca]

People aren't reporting a TON of internet income. However US tax revenues have never been higher.

 

[Dave_Z]

So much for professional gaming without paying more taxes. :D

 

[Lasher]

This was inevitable with the rise in popularity of games like WoW. I've been in this space a long time (since 1990 on MUDs) and as millions of people choose to spend more and more of their time in virtual worlds vs the real world we'll see all kinds of attempts at government influence over large online communities.

 

[painperdu]

Shouldn't the need to fund infrastructure (roads, bridges . . .) become less as more people conduct business and entertainment virtually?

I say if they're going to tax the virtual world then they should spend that money improving virtual infrastructure.