If it moves or breathes, the socialists want to tax it!
“Netflix and tax? Uncle Sam may be the next thing coming to your Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) subscription.
California cities are weighing a potential streaming tax to put a damper on your binge-watching habits, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.
Pasadena city officials are considering whether or not to lump in streaming services Hulu and Netflix into an existing municipal utility tax code often reserved for taxing cable-television users. State capital Sacramento and several other Californian cities have codes that may enable them to consider the tax as well.
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Similar “Netflix taxes” have already gone into effect in Pennsylvania and Chicago. The latest move is an attempt from lawmakers who attempt to replace revenue lost from the cord cutting phenomenon of dropping cable tv in favor of streaming services.
The Internet Assn., a trade group where Netflix is a member, isn’t happy with the proposal and is considering possible legal action against the potential streaming tax.
“We’re not leaving anything off the table,” said Robert Callahan, the Internet Assn.’s California executive director. “There are a number of questions we have about the legality of this.”