MADISON, WI — On October 1st, downloading music, videos and software in Wisconsin will be a little more expensive, thanks to the state legislature’s passage of a “stimulus bill” that adds sales tax to digital downloads.While the federal stimulus bill passed by Congress this week is designed to jump-start a sagging economy and put Americans back to work, Wisconsin’s bill is designed to fill the state’s anemic coffers. The state expects a $600 million budget shortfall by the time its current fiscal year ends June 30th.
The stimulus bill also incorporates a variety of other tax increases and some budget cuts.
The digital-download tax, nicknamed the “iPod tax,” is getting the most attention, though. It levies a 4-percent surcharge on “digitally delivered entertainment services” like music, movies, e-books, greeting cards, ringtones and most other downloadable items — including adult content. Legislators hope the tax will generate $11 million over two years.
Wisconsin’s bill is remarkably similar to one passed in April by the New York legislature. In that state, the jolt to their pocketbooks wasn’t nearly as upsetting to conservatives as other implications of taxing porn.
“By taxing [porn], you’re legitimizing it,” Michael Long, chairman of the New York Conservative Party, told The Associated Press. “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.”
