Binging on Narcos and Luke Cage might seem like a pretty cheap way to spend a weekend but, if some cities in California have their way, you might soon have to pay a tax for it.
Since politicians are reluctant to add taxes on wages – as they typically add them everywhere else: hotel rooms, cigarettes, sales tax, etc. – and now, as KTLA reports, that also could include streaming services:
Pasadena city officials are mulling whether to tax subscribers of Netflix, Hulu and other video streaming using an existing municipal utility tax code that initially was designed for taxing cable-television users. Sacramento and dozens of other California cities have similar codes that might enable them to consider the tax.
That follows similar so-called “Netflix taxes” that already have gone into effect in Pennsylvania and Chicago. More levies elsewhere could be coming as state and local agencies try to generate more revenue, especially to replace revenue lost from consumers who became “cord cutters” by dropping cable TV and switching to video streaming.
And as much as some cities are desperate to get their hands on your cash – to keep paying their officials insane wages – groups like the California Taxpayers Assn. say they will fight the move.
“Our stance is you can’t do this without a public vote” on a tax on video streaming, David Kline, the group’s spokesman, told the LA Times.
Netflix is also against the move, which would most likely add another dollar a month to your bill.
