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Topic: Chicago launches 9% tax on internet streaming, Xbox, Netflix, cloud services - page 2. (Read 1487 times)

newbie
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They wanted tax and spend liberals, they got them.
sr. member
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Not content with making explicit attacks on Uber, AirBnB, and the “sharing economy” as a whole, Democrats have launched an even more egregious attack on something that rivals sex, alcohol, and food on Millennials’ “can’t survive without” lists: streaming entertainment. As of July 1, 2015, citizens of Chicago who enjoy their Netflix, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Prime, Xbox Live, and/or PlayStation Network subscriptions are now subject to the city’s 9 percent “Amusement Tax” for the privilege. Further, should you decide to digitally rent a movie or video game via these services, the 9 percent tax would be applied for every rental. In other words, Chicago now taxes its citizens 9 percent on their $99 annual Amazon Prime subscription because of its instant video/music service, plus 9 percent for each $3.99 digital rental through the same service. The same applies for rentals and music services offered directly from Microsoft and Sony. Fans of Sony’s PlayStation Network ecosystem are hit hardest: a 9 percent tax each on their PlayStation Plus subscription, PlayStation Music, PlayStation Now (videogame streaming), and Sony’s recently introduced PlayStation Vue live-TV service. Throw in other rental/subscription services such as Hulu, Gamefly, Google Play, HBO Go, iTunes, and Vudu, and you get a sense of the sheer breadth of this tax on Chicago consumers’ digital lives.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421516/stop-internet-streaming-tax

On one hand liberals are saying making the minimum wage isn't a livable wage, on the other hand how can it be livable when what it buys is taxed to the hilt? This 9% tax will hit families where their only or primary source of entertainment is internet based. This tax also raises the cost of these internet services far more than the rate of inflation and far more than most people can expect to get in a raise.

How can liberals push for subsidies for poor people but then tax them when they use what's subsidized - the internet.
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