Chicago’s Hunt for Taxes Goes After Children Playing Games

COMMENT: My sister lives in Chicago. She is looking to leave finally. She told me there is a 9% tax on any amusement like Netflix or PlayStation for her son. You are right. They keep finding things to tax rather than address the problem. This cannot be maintained forever.

OT

REPLY: This is what happens. Rather than increasing taxes, they expand things to tax. They assume they can get away with that easier than be seen as raising taxes. It is all about how it will be reported. Sony has indeed agreed to comply with Chicago’s Amusement Tax, which means that PlayStation users now have to pay an extra 9% tax on streaming and rental services, which took effect on November 14th, 2018. This latest expansion of the city’s Amusement Tax will apply to purchases such as rentals, but not full sales of games. Back in 2015, Chicago’s Department of Finance expanded the tax on events to include streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify. It is most likely illegal but under our legal system, the burden is on you to spend money to prove you have a right. Governments can pass a law to do anything, even kill your first born. Only if they try to enforce it then you have to take them to court and spend years to get to the Supreme Court.