Monday, December 18, 2006

More on online gaming taxes

If you buy the $3 an hour rate stemming from the potential value generated in the game, Everquest has a per-capita gross domestic product nearly as big as Russia's. World of Warcraft exceeds it.

This article does a very good job in explaining the concepts behind taxing the virtual gaming world. To oversimplify, the more you play and collect gold, Linden dollars, experience points, whatever... the potential value if you "cash out" (sell your accumulations on eBay for example) can be significant.

So, is it fair to tax potential value? If I was at home writing "Harry Potter Balboa", should I be taxed on what might happen regarding revenue, or would it be better to wait until it actually hit the market before I had to pay up?

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