ALBANY, NY — To tax or not to tax, that appears to be the political question these days. Most days, actually. The question gets especially spicy and dicey when the product to be taxed is controversial – and what topic can a repressed Capitalist society find more controversial than pornography?New York State Gov. David Paterson has proposed a 4-percent tax on all televised pay-per-view and internet downloadable movies, music and software – including those of an explicitly sexual nature.
Naturally, not only the concept of taxation but the ever-titillating subject of pornography has become a political topic of conversation.
While Paterson contends that levying a tax on content procured from companies located within the state will bring much needed big bucks to the $15 billion state budget deficit, detractors contend that taxation isn’t as sure a thing as its promoters insist – and still others warn that taxing the legal industries will somehow lend them credibility.
Although some fret that businesses that wish to avoid seeing their customers taxed will simply leave the state, morality groups insist that taxing porn is somehow different from taxing other so-called vices, including alcohol and tobacco.
Michael Long, chairman of the state’s Conservative Party, doesn’t appear to have a problem with another tax being laid upon New York state citizens, but he does fret that this one would somehow “legitimize” pornography while lining the state’s pockets with dirty money gained from exploiting women and destroying lives.
“By taxing it, you’re legitimizing it,” the Associated Press quotes Long as opining. “You’re sending a message to the children, you’re sending a message to the teenagers, if you’re taxing it – how can it be wrong? I don’t know how you can sink much deeper.”
Long contends that taxing a product is the equivalent of having the government promote the use of that product, stating that “If you’re raising funds, it’s encouraging the citizens of this state to download it.”
Matt Anderson, a representative for the Division of Budget insists that the so-called “i-Pod tax” is merely an example of “bringing the tax code in line with technology. Regardless of whether or not an item is purchased at a brick-and-mortar store or online, it would be treated consistently.”
Vivid Entertainment CEO Steven Hirsch thinks the tax is a bad idea promoted at a particularly bad time.
“With all the free adult content out there and all the piracy that the adult industry is dealing with, the last thing any of us need is an additional tax,” Hirsch insisted to Newsday.
Hirsch, whose company would not be affected by the tax, points out that pornography is an increasingly popular form of entertainment that already contributes to the economy through taxes and jobs. He warns that affected companies need only relocate to avoid the latest dip into their pockets.
“These are very difficult times,” Hirsch observes, “and nobody can afford to lose even one customer.”
Online porn is believed to have made approximately $2.84 billion, while cable, pay-per-view and phone sex earned $2.19 billion during 2006. Paterson’s tax would only affect those businesses located within the state of New York.
