I’m a proud Philadelphian. I love my city…even with its bumps and bruises. Am I always fan of the government that runs the City of Brotherly Love? Not so much. When I got wind of Mashable’s post yesterday on the Philadelphia Blog tax, my ears perked up. (And a few unbelieving curse words popped out.)
So, I did what all bloggers do…I started out on a fact-finding mission and poked around to monitor ‘tone and feedback’ on what people were saying about this proposed tax:
- Three common words: Business privilege license.
- It’s a ‘one time payment’ that also affects freelance writers. (One time too many if you ask me.)
- No more Tax Amnesty Program to help answer citizens’ question. (I guess the city realized this program was counter-intuitive to their goals to squeeze every penny out of its citizens.)
- There could be a solution (of sorts) on the horizon in September.
Background facts:
According to the City Paper article Pay Up. Got a blog that makes no money? The city wants $300, thank you very much. by Valerie Rubinsky she highlights, “The city requires privilege licenses for any business engaged in any “activity for profit,” says tax attorney Michael Mandale of Center City law firm Mandale Kaufmann. This applies “whether or not they earned a profit during the preceding year,” he adds.”
The article continues to state:
According to Andrea Mannino of the Philadelphia Department of Revenue, in fact, simply choosing the option to make money from ads — regardless of how much or little money is actually generated — qualifies a blog as a business. The same rules apply to freelance writers. As former City Paper news editor Doron Taussig once lamented [Slant, "Taxed Out," April 28, 2005], the city considers freelancers — which both Bess and Barry are, in addition to their blog work — “businesses,” and requires them to pay for a license and pay taxes on their profits, on top of their state and federal taxes.
City Council members Bill Green and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez are planning on pitching a bill in September to reform the city’s business privilege tax “in an effort to make Philly a more attractive place for small businesses.” If it passes, bloggers will “still have to get a privilege license if their sites are designed to make money, but they would no longer have to pay taxes on their first $100,000 in profit. (If bloggers don’t want to fork over $300 for a lifetime license, Green suggests they take the city’s $50-a-year plan.)”
Tone and Feedback:
Well, you can imagine what some are saying on blogs and twitter…I’ll just insert a screen capture and you can go search “Philly Blog Tax” on twitter yourself…some of the expletives I can’t repeat here…
So, if you decided to be honest and report any income from AdSense or other ad revenues on your little (or big) blog—you’ve probably already received the letter everyone is talking about. Sit tight, I’m sure City Council will duke it out in September when they all get back from their month-long vacations (must be nice, huh?) Maybe if they spent a little more time doing the job they are paid to do (with Philly tax dollars, no less) they might be able to figure out better ways to generate revenue than taxing soda and bloggers. The politics that goes on within City Hall is insane.
That’s my two cents (which I’m sure I’ll be taxed on next year.)
A business is a business, but if you’re going to need to go “official”, there are lots of perks come tax-time, including writing off your computer, internet charges, part of your smart-phone and its charges (if you update via it), perhaps meal expenses if you blog about food. If you’re going to be forced to play the game, you can find a way to win.
– j