Streaming services have another hurdle to face in terms of customers adoption.
Chicago is now tacking on an extra 9 percent “electronic amusement tax” to streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Netflix.
The city’s amusement tax covers purchases at book stores, record stores, etc. Now Chicago is looking to capitalize on that tax even though more customers are moving to digital purchases.
Netflix is already saying they’re planning to pass the extra 9 percent tax on to consumers.
Nina Ulloa covers breaking news, tech, and more: @nine_u
Photo from Flickr by Marissa used with the Creative Commons License.
So……what are you saying?
Just a request for clarification: when the headline says there will be an ‘extra’ 9% tax on streaming services, does this mean they will be paying more than other forms of ‘amusement’, or that they have not previously been paying the tax at all, but now they will be? I suspect it is the latter. If so, the word ‘extra’ is misleading. Regardless of whether or not an ‘amusement tax’ is a good idea, if there is one, it should apply equally to all forms of amusement.
This explains it more clearly:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-cloud-tax-met-0702-20150701-story.html
Interestingly, they also point out that “The expansion of the amusement tax does not apply under this new interpretation to music, movies or games that are bought electronically, such as individual albums, songs or movies bought on iTunes.”