As somewhat uneducated Brits, we find the US taxing system… Interesting to say the least. Anyway, Sony's announced that starting 1st April in certain states, PlayStation Store purchases will begin to be taxed. The charge will be determined by where you live, with New Jersey, Washington, and Texas some of the states affected by this change. You should have received an email from PlayStation if this applies to you.
The tax will apply to all PlayStation Store based purchases, including PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Vue subscriptions. We're sure that some of you will complain in the comments section, but we've been paying VAT on our PSN purchases since the PlayStation 3 launched here in the UK, so please do keep that in mind.
[source support.us.playstation.com, via neogaf.com]
Comments 38
I'm in Ontario, Canada. PSN purchases have never been taxed here.
That's funny, my kid just asked me yesterday if we pay tax on stuff on PSN.
Since Sony will now be charging tax will they finally catch up to 2011 and let us buy things under $5 on our credit cards without having to add $5 to our wallets? Not sure how it will work on Switch, don't think it has anything under $5 yet to try out, but 3DS and Wii U worked at any price. It's going to add insult to I jury if I have to pay $1.08 for a 99c purchase but I still need to charge $5 to my CC.
Rjejr I've been able to purchase anything under £5 since the launch of the PS4, I feel for you if you guys are still having to do that, it's one of the things I hated about PSN during the 3's era.
Well this is absolutely crap, i live in New Jersey n buy a lot on psn and loved the fact that its tax free. O well what can we do right?
@Rsco6969 Well I can purchase 99c games but when I go to pay on my CC they require me to pay $5, I still get to keep the rest of my money in my wallet, but then sometimes it just sits there for months. So I don't buy anything under $5. Though I've only had my PA for 2 MO the so maybe your right? Need to go chevk.
You know, in retrospect, it's very possible I have been paying taxes all along but it's early and I'm not awake.
I don't think I pay tax here in Pennsylvania...
Damn Brexit!
Oh no, wait...
well i live in the and like you said we have being paying Tax ever since the PS3 launched so no big thing for us
Taxes did nothing wrong.
Nintendo has been collecting tax in USA eShop for years.
I swear to God, I think they just basically pocket the money.
It's sooooo shady. Sometimes I really hate Nintendo.
As far as PSN goes, hopefully my State won't tax digital purchases.
I'm in PA too and fortunately we don't get charged tax. Also looks like we won't be part of this wave. Full state list: Washington, Ohio, Utah, Texas, New Jersey & Minnesota. Sorry for all fellow American in these states who are now going to be taxed on the PSN
I'm in NY and I've never paid sales tax on any digital good, be it Nintendo (3DS, WiiU), Sony (PS4) or Microsoft (360)
Just an FYI, even if they (or ANY online retailers) don't charge sales tax, you are supposed to report the purchases on your yearly tax return to pay the sales tax.
Can we change states on psn usa account? I choose psn states that's not taxed when I made my usa account a couple of years ago.
@wiiware That will probably work, but it's tax fraud.
@NathanUC Eh, I'm not on usa so I don't want to pay usa taxes.
I see a sudden "influx" of users to certain States, in particular those who don't live in the U.S.
@wiiware You probably don't need to worry about it then just like us Yankees can ignore the VAT in some situations.
The shameful state of Indiana still doesn't charge sales tax on the PSN.... for reference.
Amazon started charging tax on video games that I buy around a year ago, so if PSN starts doing it, it's not going to matter to me.
Hmm, I live in Texas. "Lucky" me.
It's been a while since I bought anything digitally though. Hopefully I can get FFVII before April Fool's then.
not problem any way i pay it when buy it on disk and i usually shop disks so i do not see any problem pay it on digital shop too
@NathanUC It seems my place, new york is safe
I'm from Texas and I got the email last night.
Thanks Obama... er... I mean Trump.
In all honesty though, I wasn't even aware I wasn't paying sales tax on my digital purchases and my PS Vue sub.
As an IL resident I hate taxes as we get it on everything!
@Get2SammyB Amazon just started taxing PSN digital codes in my state, which btw is totally illegal as that's double-taxation...
Yikes. Glad it didn't affect Tennessee. This state has a brutal sales tax.
I'd like to take this opportunity to quiz Americans why you don't just have a VAT type format in the first place? It seems crazy having to calculate the tax that you're going to pay. Why not just pay it upfront on every product like in the UK?
If you live in a state where the state's revenue is generated through sales and property tax like Texas, this move makes sense. Texas doesn't have a state income tax, so the state needs to make sure it generates enough income to take care of the infrastructure for the Texans. I'm not as sympathetic towards states that tax sales, property and income. Three bites at the apple is a bit much.
@get2sammyb
It's a state system. The federal government has a federal income tax enforced by the IRS. It's the same across all states. After that, each of the 50 states sets up their own tax system.
As noted above, Texas has a property tax (a tax on the value of your home if you own) and a sales tax on what you purchase. There is no state tax on what you earn. On the flip side, Oregon has an income tax, but no sales tax. Then some states have all three.
To add to the confusion, in states with sales tax, municipalities (cities) can tack their own sales tax onto the state sales tax. These city taxes are for schools, local emergency services (police, fire, etc), streets and so on.
@lacerz It seems needlessly complicated to a foreigner. Thanks for explaining, though.
@get2sammyb
I absolutely agree, but it's a state's rights issue. We're united (minus that little blip in the late 1800s), but we want our local matters governed locally without federal involvement. That's over simplified, but the basic premise.
And it's not just a taxation matter. Laws vary from state to state. In Oregon it was illegal to pump your own gas when I visited in 2000. Oklahoma is the only state to make it illegal to sell "beer" in excess of 3.2% alcohol in a convenience store/gas station. There's a lot of strange laws from state to state.
I live in the state of Maryland, I truly hope this is not implemented here. Texas and New Jersey already have plenty of state funds and do not need more.
Just change the address on your PSN account...
I have a US account and i live in the UK, I do it as games were always cheeper in the US (Mainly due to the 20% tax we pay in the UK)
Mine's registered to Oregon University..
I "live" in Florida so it doesnt affect me, it seems. It does affect Amazon, though, but my purchases from them have dropped dramatically since I got a couple of wrong orders.
My primary account is US but if I don't live in the States will I still get taxed when I purchase stuff from the store?
@rjejr
After what happened in 2011 I don't know why anybody would use their credit card to purchase anything from PSN. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but ever since that little f**k up I've refrained from buying anything on PSN without using PS Store cards. This is probably going to make things slightly more annoying but whatever.
@Gamer83 2011 was bad, but what year isn't? I still use my Target Red card at Target.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/biggest-worst-data-breaches-hacks_us_55d4b5a5e4b07addcb44fd9e
I live a sad miserable existence, I'm not living in fear too.
I am really looking for the psn codes online.
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