When politicians tax violent video games. Happy Tax Day! As you fill out your tax forms, today we turn to the time-honored tactic of politicians pandering to their base: taxing violent video games.
Taxing video games has a storied history in state legislatures. The reality is that video games, violent or otherwise, simply make too much money to be stopped. But taxing them is a viable compromise, a "sin tax" of sorts similar to that levied on cigarettes. Tax legislation proposals provide valuable insights into the mind of the politician proposing them. The percentage of tax provides a measure of urgency. Taxes under five percent are usually meant to quell the politician's base without offending game development companies who bring valuable dollars to the state. The higher the tax proposal, the less likely the proposer is interested in getting the law passed. The most telling aspect of tax legislation on video games is what happens to the funds from the tax. Often, the tax funds are in direct response to the social problems video games supposedly cause: obesity, juvenile delinquency and poor education. Most recently, The Children and Youth Committee of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives conducted a hearing on violent video games. Various proposals to curb violent games included a five percent tax with funds allocated to parental education programs. more... http://tinyurl.com/cvz9xv _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
