California wants to tax your text messages

originally posted by: Tanga36
a reply to: JAGStorm

Chicago has passed a tax on online streaming and gaming.
9% tax on netflix, hulu, ps4, xbox etc,

www.abovetopsecret.com...

"Streaming is big business, and Chicago wants a piece of the action. On Sept. 1, the city’s controversial new “cloud tax” went into effect, extending a 9-percent “amusement tax” into the digital realm."

www.dailysignal.com...

I didn't hear about this, doesn't surprise me one bit. Chicago has a way of taking every red cent you have!

originally posted by: Lumenari

originally posted by: Tanga36
a reply to: JAGStorm

Chicago has passed a tax on online streaming and gaming.
9% tax on netflix, hulu, ps4, xbox etc,

www.abovetopsecret.com...

"Streaming is big business, and Chicago wants a piece of the action. On Sept. 1, the city’s controversial new “cloud tax” went into effect, extending a 9-percent “amusement tax” into the digital realm."

www.dailysignal.com...

So now more bangers will be out selling drugs and shooting it out so they can play COD.

And it will be blamed on the guns....

Why don't people understand that if you tax a citizenry to where they have nothing else to lose you are going to get a citizenry that is pissed off and has nothing to lose?

Progressivism at it's finest.

I'm sure the city council will argue that if they tax the entertainment, it'll leave less money to purchase ammo with thus leading to less shootings.

On the plus side (if you can call it that), Apple is fighting the tax in court. Their claim (valid in my opinion) is that they will be forced to tax people for streaming even if they are outside of Chicago's city limits. I'm 3 hours from the Windy City and go up there every couple of years. How would they tax me if I streamed something while there? Or even better, what about the the citizens that have an address in the city but spend a lot of time outside of the city and stream music all day at work?

As much as I dislike Apple, they do fight against government overreaches, at times. That said, they are still a huge tech company and comply with a lot of intrusive behaviors but they are also the only one that seems to ever put up a fight against the gov intrusions. Still not buying any of their products, though. Will just give them credit where its due.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: Tanga36
a reply to: JAGStorm

Chicago has passed a tax on online streaming and gaming.
9% tax on netflix, hulu, ps4, xbox etc,

www.abovetopsecret.com...

"Streaming is big business, and Chicago wants a piece of the action. On Sept. 1, the city’s controversial new “cloud tax” went into effect, extending a 9-percent “amusement tax” into the digital realm."

www.dailysignal.com...

I didn't hear about this, doesn't surprise me one bit. Chicago has a way of taking every red cent you have!

Pretty sure it was passed in 2015. It has come back into the news recently because Apple is fighting the tax in court. Playstation caved and began implementing the tax last month, I believe.

originally posted by: a325nt
a reply to: JAGStorm

There are already places in this country that tax your on rain fall- stay away from the cities...

Sound advice.

Precisely what you do in a zombie apocalypse is stay away from the cities. And judging from some of these taxes that people are actually voting in favor of these days we are most definitely in the midst of a zombie outbreak.

It's California, of course this tax will pass. They can make anything tax pass over there one way or another. Hire the right people to oversee the vote count in the state and you would be surprised what they can do.

According to USA Today, it gets worse.

Yes, under the current filing the tax would be retroactive to five years ago though exact details on what would be charged and how are unclear.

So any texts made since 2014 are going to get taxed as well.

I know my kids, when they lived at home, would not break a sweat to send 50 texts a day. So for every penny of tax per text, that's 50 cents a day, $15 a month, $180 a year, for a grand total of a $900 tax bill per kid, just to catch up for the last 5 years when there was no tax!

Also, apparently this is in response to people not using voice communication, because there's already a tax on that!

TheRedneck

a reply to: JAGStorm

they'll tax anything that occurs a lot of times.

Its a good way for them to go because like speeding fines they are largely discretionary because anyone who is anyone does not have to pay it.

Anyone who is anyone has friends in high places or very low places and all they have to do it make a phone call and it all goes away leaving the masses as the only people who pay it.

No heat for the law makers or the collectors because they only ever have to deal with masses who rarely, if ever, have fronds in high places. For the few that do, well too bad nothing to worry about, there is still plenty of them who don't.

originally posted by: madmac5150
California's "Millenials" are going to get a rude awakening, when something that they care deeply about becomes tax fodder... what a way to alienate a voter demographic.

It might make them think twice about sending 10-15 messages with a total of less than 160 characters (whatever the SMS limit is..). Why send 10-15 messages in a row, each a few words, when you can send one text with all the info. It is infuriating.

Let them keep pushing. The time is getting near for a reset.

Let their blood flow. I won't help any of them. The #ing greed getting shown by these assholes that lord over humanity. It won't be Kings getting beheaded this time around and due to information flowing the way it does now once it kicks off in one country it's game on. Let anarchy reign until natural balance returns and decent humans flow to the top again.

they'll make a pile of money from Obamaphones
...and you & I will be paying for it

maybe they should tax the telemarketers and robocallers!! They have made my phone rather useless. I don't bother answering it unless I am sure I know who it is, and if I have to get hold of someone, I don't call them because they are doing the same thing and more than likely I will end up in the voicemail...
the only thing I do it seems is text and watch stupid videos on you tube. it's gotten like cable tv, if there is more commercial ads and bullcrap than there is actual useful content... well, you are paying more money for the bullcrap already so ya, add another flipping tax to it. maybe we will all just ditch the phones and go back to snail mail and put the business world through heck for awhile!

a reply to: acackohfcc

ya, "Obamaphones".... previously known as "Lifeline" was around when I was a kid!! only that was when there was only landlines. ya know what, my cell phone is cheaper than a landline and it offers more than what is given through the gov't program. ya, so kick obama's arse for saving the gov't a little money!!!

a reply to: JAGStorm
In theory, it's the perfect tax- on something which is a luxury, not a necessity, but which everybody uses. Like taxes on tobacco and alcohol.
But the theory doesn't always work. Gladstone's Chancellor Robert Lowe tried it on matches, and got into all sorts of trouble.

a reply to: JAGStorm

We already pay a provider to be able to use a phone so why should people have to pay again to someone else?

f these fools

a reply to: TruthxIsxInxThexMist

Because we have been indoctrinated into that thought.

The taxes, both direct and indirect, on gasoline are literally astronomical. Yet, when gas prices go up, who do we blame? The evil oil companies, who produce the gasoline, not the sainted government who does nothing to produce anything (other than misery). Both are responsible, and both should have a stake in our ire when we complain. In reality, the one who simply raises the prices without adding to the product should have a larger stake.

If this tax passes, it will likely be struck down and replaced with a less visible version... in which case, the evil phone companies will then be targeted, not the government that raised the price.

TheRedneck

I don't know how this will work. If only California does this, do they tax you while you travel and text out of state?

Will they tax people that come in the state with an out of state number?

I know back in the day some people would get a phone number from another state that had lower cell phone taxes and sign up for automatic billing right away.

I wonder if this is something they are going to try to roll out all over?

a reply to: TheRedneck

Isn't the tax a gas fixed per gallon. So, in general, price changes are due to the people marketing and producing the oil and gas.

a reply to: roadgravel

No, the tax goes up quite regularly. You haven't been paying attention to it apparently.

Have you ever noticed how gas will go up for a while, then back down, but almost never to the level it was before the hike? That's because the governments, both Federal and local, time tax increases to expected price drops. Let's say gas was $1.75 a gallon, but for one reason or other, oil prices rose and it went to $2.50 a gallon. People will scream and cry about the high prices, then the oil prices will drop back to where they were and gas will go down to $1.85 a gallon. In reality, a 10 cents gas tax was timed to go into effect about the same time the price dropped, so gas is now 10 cents higher than it was.

But hey, it's not $2.50 a gallon anymore. Of course, the next rise in oil prices will see it go to $2.60, but we don't care about that...

TheRedneck

a reply to: JAGStorm

I don't know... The majority of their residents are raging lunatics. Something this idiotic probably would pass.

a reply to: TheRedneck

ya, I don't think the retroactive bit is gonna float,
it would probably bankrupt too many people.
not to mention, be a nightmare trying to figure out just how many texts each person had sent through the years when they change phone service, numbers as often as they do.