There are a few of you that have Blogs of your own and I wanted to share with you what my hometown is doing to their local bloggers.... unbelievable!!!! Pay Up or Shut Up: Bloggers Charged $300 for Their Thoughts | NBC Philadelphia
Um what? Doesn't that violate the 1st Amendment or something?? Ridiculous! Most bloggers don't even make money! Heck, I bet most Philadelphia bloggers don't even write THAT much about the city. can't wait to see how they plan to enforce this one.
That is sooooo wrong. Plus, how many people in Philly can even read, let alone write? And what if you live in Allentown?
Hey, I am from Philly buddy. The education system there is not so bad. And ontop of that 4 of the top 5 Universities are in the Philadelphia area, and it is a known fact that a large number of those students settle down in the area after graduating. Its the city government that should be under scrutiny. Can't speak too much on Allentown, but the people I do know from there are nurses and dentists.
As I understand it, it only applies to blogs that include some kind of monetisation, and thus differentiates between a blog ran for income and a blog ran as a hobby. A website is either a business or it isnt, the amount of income is immaterial really. The bill is actually an initiative to encourage small businesses http://www.nydailynews.com/money/20...y_bloggers_must_pay_for_business_license.html I wish I could pay $300 to not pay any tax on the first $100K
Steve, the below was in the link you gave as well..... "Whether the blog earns a profit does not matter. Andrea Mannino of the Philadelphia Department of Revenue, told the City Paper that by choosing the option to make money from ads — regardless of how much or little money is actually generated — qualifies a blog as a business." I think regardless, in these economical times, people need to be cut a break. One lady was told to invest in an accountant over the $50 she earned in a year or two. That is ridiculous!!!
I see where you're coming from Tori, but at the end of a day a site with ads that results in income for the site owner is still a business, even a site with ads that dont result in income is still a business. There are plenty of businesses that dont make much money and many make a loss, they still have to pay for their licences though. The solution is simple enough for anyone worried about their potential liability - remove the ads and make the site a 'non business'. I mean, if the ads dont make anything worth having in the way of an income what's the point in displaying them anyway? $300 tax on 100K income is a pretty nice break!
Some additional information. To get all info, you have to read all the major news outlets versions.... The license fee is $50 a year or $300 for a lifetime The city doesn’t stop there. In addition to the license, bloggers must pay city wage taxes, business privilege taxes and taxes on any net profits -- on top of state and federal taxes -- even if the blogger only made $11 over two year... So like you said Steve, unless you are making a VERY decent amount of money, get rid of the ads.
