We're now more or less used to our total subjugation by tax authorities, summed up in the old Beatles lyric, "Be thankful I don't take it all". The question now is how The Taxman will attempt to invade virtual worlds such Second Life and World of Warcraft. A Reuters story reports:
"Right now we're at the preliminary stages of looking at the issue and what kind of public policy questions virtual economies raise -- taxes, barter exchanges, property and wealth," said Dan Miller, senior economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress.
"You could argue that to a certain degree the law has fallen (behind) because you can have a virtual asset and virtual capital gains, but there's no mechanism by which you're taxed on this stuff," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Comment: If you make profits in a virtual world then you are already taxed if you find a way to cash out. However, tax authorities prefer to take multiple bites, so you are taxed on what you earn, taxed on what you spend, then finally, when you die, you're taxed on the remaining value of whatever you bought. I wouldn't bet against having to pay real taxes on virtual dollars.
