$300 Blogger Tax

August 24th, 2010
By: Full Tilt 101

Gamerhusbands is a blog. As you may know, blogs print money. We frequently break our hundreds up into 20′s and fill our palaces with them so we can swim like Scrooge McDuck. The sarcasm is getting a little thick and in case you are a Philadelphia politician getting ready for a Gamerhusband windfall, let me stress that GHR is not based in Philadelphia and it doesn’t make money. In general, an enormous majority of blogs don’t make money. Blogs cost money. There are server fees, libsyn fees, software costs and other assorted costs. Blogs and podcasts are labors of love. In the case of Gamerhusbands and sites like us, we’re a creative outlet for individuals that didn’t exist before the advent of the internet and mp3 players.

Other sites out there are political. They’re individual forms of free speech which allow people to post news that otherwise wouldn’t get out. Twitter was essential in getting stories from the Iran elections to the rest of the world. In the last few US elections, sites like Factcheck.org are excellent sources for news and truth. These are voices that have arisen from these new mediums and they need to be nurtured.

Philadelphia has chosen to add a $300 Business Privilege Tax for blogs in the city limits. It doesn’t matter if your blog doesn’t make money, it’s now going to cost you another $300. If you’ve done the right thing and reported the $11 you made last year, Philly wants $300 from you. Thank you Philadelphia for remaining backwards. Thank you for remaining behind the times and letting bureaucracy overshadow sanity. Suggestion to you Philadelphia : There are many more Facebook and Twitter users in Philadelphia than bloggers. That’s a whole new market for your corruption. Thanks to the Philadelphia City Paper for writing an excellent article on this.

3 Responses to “$300 Blogger Tax”

  1. false tax man says:

    Any taxes collected should be deductible. Now that your hobby is now a business (a non-profitable one) you may want to track your time and all expenses you spend on the site that way at the end of the year you can write off the business loss against your state and federal income taxes. Check it out with your tax advisor they should agree.

  2. ShoNuff 71 says:

    This tax is insane.

  3. chuckdogg80 says:

    I would expect nothing less from the great city of Philadelphia. Always inventing new and exciting ways to screw the populace. I’m glad that I live comfortably away, but close enough to see a Phils game.

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