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[h1]Paterson tax would include porn[/h1]THE ASSOCIATED PRESS February 16, 2009
ALBANY - Talk of a New York tax increase just got a little, er, hotter.
It turns out that Gov. David A. Paterson's proposal on downloads of music and software would also apply to downloading pornography, an element unnoticed in the public debate so far.
The state Division of Budget confirmed that the tax would apply to skin flicks, whether they are downloaded online or purchased through pay-per-view on television.
"By taxing it you're legitimizing it," said Michael Long, chairman of the New York Conservative Party. "You're sending a message to the children, you're sending a message to the teenagers, if you're taxing it - how can it be wrong? I don't know how you can sink much deeper."
Because of recent court decisions over the relatively new area of taxing Internet transactions, the salestax would apply only to pornographers who are located in the state. It's a break for out-of-state Web sites that wouldn't have to collect from NewYorkers.
It's difficult to tally how much people spend for online porn, but TopTenREVIEWS.com, a site reviewing products and ranking their quality, performance andrevenue, says the industry brought in $2.84 billion in 2006. The cable, pay-per-view and phone sex industries brought in $2.19 billion that year, the sitesays.
Paterson's tax also applies to downloads of music and movies, so this government action on pornography isn't likely to face the same legal challengesover indecency and freedom of speech as past measures because the tax isn't specifically targeting content.
The "iPod tax" would tax the sale of downloaded music and other digitally delivered entertainment services by 4 percent.
"This is simply bringing the tax code in line with technology," said Matt Anderson, a spokesman for the Division ofBudget. "Regardless of whether or not an item is purchased at a brick-and-mortar store or online, it would be treated consistently.
ALBANY - Talk of a New York tax increase just got a little, er, hotter.
It turns out that Gov. David A. Paterson's proposal on downloads of music and software would also apply to downloading pornography, an element unnoticed in the public debate so far.
The state Division of Budget confirmed that the tax would apply to skin flicks, whether they are downloaded online or purchased through pay-per-view on television.
"By taxing it you're legitimizing it," said Michael Long, chairman of the New York Conservative Party. "You're sending a message to the children, you're sending a message to the teenagers, if you're taxing it - how can it be wrong? I don't know how you can sink much deeper."
Because of recent court decisions over the relatively new area of taxing Internet transactions, the salestax would apply only to pornographers who are located in the state. It's a break for out-of-state Web sites that wouldn't have to collect from NewYorkers.
It's difficult to tally how much people spend for online porn, but TopTenREVIEWS.com, a site reviewing products and ranking their quality, performance andrevenue, says the industry brought in $2.84 billion in 2006. The cable, pay-per-view and phone sex industries brought in $2.19 billion that year, the sitesays.
Paterson's tax also applies to downloads of music and movies, so this government action on pornography isn't likely to face the same legal challengesover indecency and freedom of speech as past measures because the tax isn't specifically targeting content.
The "iPod tax" would tax the sale of downloaded music and other digitally delivered entertainment services by 4 percent.
"This is simply bringing the tax code in line with technology," said Matt Anderson, a spokesman for the Division ofBudget. "Regardless of whether or not an item is purchased at a brick-and-mortar store or online, it would be treated consistently.
