Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: How much did you spend on MMOs last month?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/02/the-daily-grind-how-much-did-you-spend-on-mmos-last-month/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/02/the-daily-grind-how-much-did-you-spend-on-mmos-last-month/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/02/the-daily-grind-how-much-did-you-spend-on-mmos-last-month/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

$14.95. That's how much I spent on MMOs in December, which went entirely into the pockets of Cryptic Studios for Star Trek Online. Otherwise, my journeys in Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, and the RIFT beta were completely free. We have come a long way from the days of $8/hour CompuServe games, my friends.

Of course, I've had months where I've juggled a couple subscriptions, or purchased a new game, or even (gasp) spent a few bucks on microtransactions. Disposable income is a really nice thing to have, but it seems like there's a lot more to spend it on online than ever before.

Because we're nosy about your finances, how much did you spend on MMOs last month? That's including subscriptions, game purchases, microtransactions and paid services. Don't forget to itemize your purchases for tax deductions!

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: How much did you spend on MMOs last month? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>compuservecrypticcryptic-studiosguild-warslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromicrotransactionsopinionriftstar-trek-onlinestosubscriptionstaxestdgthe-daily-grindSun, 02 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Virtual Whirl: Death and taxes]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/01/the-virtual-whirl-death-and-taxes/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/01/the-virtual-whirl-death-and-taxes/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/01/the-virtual-whirl-death-and-taxes/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

"Nothing is certain but death and taxes"; a rather sardonic and bleak proverb, quoted and paraphrased by a number of famous figures over the years. The earliest on record was Daniel Defoe, in The Political History of the Devil in 1726.

Well, this week the death part doesn't concern us so much as the taxes.

Many Americans have spent this month scrambling to get their taxes filed, and for many of the rest of us our own turn comes due in just a couple of months. With that in mind, I thought I'd talk about the taxation status of virtual assets.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: Death and taxes

MassivelyThe Virtual Whirl: Death and taxes originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 May 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>australiadaniel-defoefeaturedirslegallinden-dollarsopinionsecond-lifeswedentaxtaxesthe-virtual-whirlukusavirtual-worldsworld-of-warcraftSat, 01 May 2010 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[UK game tax policies has Realtime Worlds considering move to Ireland]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/28/uk-game-tax-policies-has-realtime-worlds-considering-move-to-ire/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/28/uk-game-tax-policies-has-realtime-worlds-considering-move-to-ire/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/28/uk-game-tax-policies-has-realtime-worlds-considering-move-to-ire/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Realtime Worlds is becoming synonymous with Scotland's game development with their upcoming title All Points Bulletin, but there are reports the company may consider relocating to Ireland. As one of Scotland's most prominent development studios, Realtime Worlds is keenly aware that as the computer games industry grows the UK lags behind other countries in terms of tax incentives. (Edge Online has an excellent overview of the situation which details how UK firms pay tax on R&D while countries like Canada and France provide rebates for game developers.) The situation as it affects Realtime Worlds and other Dundee-based companies is that if corporate tax breaks aren't possible in Scotland, they may need to head to greener pastures. Even moreso if such pastures include a 5-year tax holiday, which was mentioned at last weekend's Global Irish Economic Forum in Dublin.

Herald Scotland quotes Colin Macdonald, Realtime Worlds Studio Manager, as saying,"If the package on offer in Ireland was attractive we'd have to give it serious consideration. [...] Dundee is a great place to be based, one of the main hubs for computer games in Britain, but at the end of the day we've got to look after our bottom line."

Continue reading UK game tax policies has Realtime Worlds considering move to Ireland

MassivelyUK game tax policies has Realtime Worlds considering move to Ireland originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinapbcolin-macdonalddublindundeeeconomyedge-onlineherald-scotlandirelandmmo-industryrealtime-worldsscotlandtaxesunited-kingdomMon, 28 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EVE Online: The taxman cometh]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/22/eve-online-the-taxman-cometh/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/22/eve-online-the-taxman-cometh/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/22/eve-online-the-taxman-cometh/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


When EVE Online developer CCP Soundwave isn't entertaining fans of internet spaceships with his wit during the EVE Alliance Tournament, he's apparently finding new ways to ... impose taxes on players? His dev blog today explains that CCP Games will tax the earnings of players in NPC corps and their reasons for introducing this taxes. This won't apply to those in EVE's player corporations or those enlisted with a militia for factional warfare. "Service guarantees citizenship and all that, so keep on trucking," he writes. (Note: For those less familiar with EVE Online, this deals entirely with in-game currency of course, InterStellar Kredits or ISK. No real world taxation is involved.)

After all these years, why impose taxes on players in NPC corps? CCP Soundwave explains it all in "I Bring Gifts! (By Gifts I Mean Taxes, Sorry)". NPC corps have a few advantages over player corps in that they cannot have wars declared against them by player corporations; immunity to wardecs is perhaps a key reason some players don't move on to player corps. In addition, members of NPC corporations don't have taxes subtracted from their NPC bounties and mission rewards, which most player corporations impose.

Continue reading EVE Online: The taxman cometh

MassivelyEVE Online: The taxman cometh originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sweden is taking aim at online tax evasion and the estimated five billion Swedish krona (SEK) in annual undeclared income by the country's citizens. (This equates to roughly USD 645 million.) While much of this is revenue from "online marketplaces, porn, and astrology sites", undeclared income from games and virtual worlds are included in that figure. In fact, the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) looked at the sales of avatars and characters in 'computer games' over a 14 month period, with a collective advertised sum of 662 million SEK (USD 85 million). No income was declared on any of these transactions so it's a safe bet they'll be scrutinizing these sales moving forward.

Although the specific virtual worlds and games aren't named, GameCulture adds that the virtual property Skatteverket is looking at exchanged hands between 7000 gamers and residents. Also interesting is what GamePolitics turned up on the situation -- "even U.S. citizens could be subject to Swedish taxation on such virtual transactions, according to the Economics of Virtual Worlds blog."

MassivelySweden extending taxation into the virtual originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>avataravatarseconomygameculturegamepoliticslegalmmo-industryskatteverketswedenswedish-tax-agencytaxtaxationtaxesvirtual-goodsvirtual-itemsvirtual-worldsTue, 21 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[IRS reports to Congress: Virtual worlds/MMOGs have always been taxable]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/13/irs-reports-to-congress-virtual-worlds-mmogs-have-always-been-t/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/13/irs-reports-to-congress-virtual-worlds-mmogs-have-always-been-t/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/13/irs-reports-to-congress-virtual-worlds-mmogs-have-always-been-t/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Section 7803(c)(2)(B)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code requires the National Taxpayer Advocate to submit a report to Congress each year and in it, among other things, to identify at least 20 of the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers and to make administrative and legislative recommendations to mitigate those problems. Thus, the statute requires that the report focus on problems and areas in need of improvement.

Of the 20 "most serious problems encountered by taxpayers", number 13 is The IRS Should Proactively Address Emerging Issues Such as Those Arising From "Virtual Worlds".

For the impatient, who just want the sound-bite, it boils down to the position that the existing US Tax Code already covers much of what takes place in virtual environments, with respect to assets, virtual currencies and transactions. Indeed most of the Code already deals with many things that are no less virtual and no more corporeal than are virtual environments. The only real issue the IRS seems to have with it is a lack of information on the part of the taxpayer about if, when and how to report and pay their taxes relating to virtual environment activities, and the lack of any uniform positional advice.

Continue reading IRS reports to Congress: Virtual worlds/MMOGs have always been taxable

MassivelyIRS reports to Congress: Virtual worlds/MMOGs have always been taxable originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>breakingcongresseconomyirslegalnational-tax-advocatepoliticssecond-lifetaxesvirtual-worldsTue, 13 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[When white collar crime goes virtual]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/13/when-white-collar-crime-goes-virtual/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/13/when-white-collar-crime-goes-virtual/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/13/when-white-collar-crime-goes-virtual/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

The writing is on the wall. Legislation of the virtual space is increasingly becoming the norm. Just look at the ways in which Sweden, South Korea, and China are looking into implementing virtual taxation. It stands to reason that this is only the beginning, and regulatory bodies in other countries will begin to take a closer look at what's happening, economically, on the virtual plane. The economic turbulence felt in the United States (and beyond) and the numerous problems this creates has more people eager to turn a buck, somehow, and eyeing the unregulated economies of massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds... and their potential for unchecked exploitation. At least, this is the view of Mark Methenitis, who writes the Law of the Game on Joystiq column, which focuses on legal issues as they relate to video games.

Methenitis looks at the possibility of insider trading being applied to a virtual economy, wherein a developer has advance knowledge of a price fluctuation and takes advantage of this fact. The situation becomes far more complex, and serious, when an individual within a game company has control over the trade between real currency and the virtual currency in question, or has the ability to duplicate digital products. Methenitis doesn't cite any specific examples of this kind of financial manipulation, but explores the potential for exploitation on this level. More than anything, his observations are of a 'what if?' nature, but every scenario Methenitis outlines is certainly within the realm of possibility.

MassivelyWhen white collar crime goes virtual originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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They always say the two things you can't avoid in life are death and taxes. Yet, being an MMO player, death always just seems to be a part of life. And now, governments around the world are beginning to become interested in putting in the other unavoidable part of life in our gaming experience -- as if we had enough of death.

As in-game transactions and RMT are beginning to become major boons to business the government is getting interested. And, of course, like any good government, they want their share. China was only the first, now Sweden and South Korea are interested in getting their tax laws straight as well.

Taxing game transactions, however, isn't as easy as making laws that tax a physical currency. There's the issues of relative value, constantly diminishing returns as more money flows into virtual economies without enough monetary sinks in the game, and the whole issue if the game goes out of business.

We tend to believe that worlds like this should avoid colliding, but it seems that as we begin to mesh our virtual currencies and begin to value them as much as our real world ones, paths like these seem inevitable.

MassivelyGame revenue taxation begins spread to Sweden and South Korea originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chinadeatheconomicseconomygovernmentkorealawsreal-money-tradereal-money-tradingrmtsouth-koreaswedentaxesFri, 12 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The slow demise of virtual tax havens]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/29/the-slow-demise-of-virtual-tax-havens/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/29/the-slow-demise-of-virtual-tax-havens/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/29/the-slow-demise-of-virtual-tax-havens/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Is taxation of commerce in the virtual space inevitable? We've been hearing more and more about this coming out of China, South Korea, and Sweden, but a recent piece on BBC News -- "Slapping a tax on playtime" -- hits a bit closer to home for many of us. Flora Graham, a technology reporter for BBC News, spoke with Professor Edward Castronova of Indiana University, well-known for his research and commentary on virtual economies over the years, and game researcher Dr. Richard Bartle about the impact of taxation on games and virtual worlds.

Castronova points out the idea of taxation of virtual goods exchanged for virtual money, saying, "... it's an extraordinarily dangerous development... It's as if every time I played soccer in my backyard and scored a goal, I would have to pay the government three euros. It takes away from the game's contribution to human happiness."

Continue reading The slow demise of virtual tax havens

MassivelyThe slow demise of virtual tax havens originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>asiachinaedward-castronovafantasyrichard-bartlesecond-lifesouth-koreaswedentaxtaxationtaxestheodore-setovirtual-economicsvirtual-economiesworld-of-warcraftSat, 29 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[China's virtual goods taxation sparks price increases and controversy]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/19/chinas-virtual-goods-taxation-sparks-price-increases-and-contro/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/19/chinas-virtual-goods-taxation-sparks-price-increases-and-contro/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/19/chinas-virtual-goods-taxation-sparks-price-increases-and-contro/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,


China's State Administration of Taxation recently imposed a 20 percent income tax rate on profits made from virtual currency and virtual items, sparking price increases for virtual goods. While this tax rate (if actually enforced) clearly impacts the virtual space, it also affects transactions happening outside of MMO servers and virtual world grids. The taxation policy could ultimately extend to the virtual currencies linked to the largest IM providers in China such as Tencent, drastically increasing the percentage of the population affected by the new laws. Despite this, the positive benefits of eliminating gray and black markets for virtual items and currency may outweigh the drawbacks for gamers and users of the various digital services in China.

Questions remain about what will and will not be taxed in the virtual space, but it's clear that individuals who gain virtual income are expected to declare their profits and pay taxes on this, and do so within seven days of having earned the profit, according to Shanghai Daily.Taxpayers who can provide proof of the value of this property or the value of the transaction are taxed at 20 percent on their profits, while those who cannot provide sufficient verification are taxed at three percent of the total transaction value. But how many people are affected by this new system?

Continue reading China's virtual goods taxation sparks price increases and controversy

MassivelyChina's virtual goods taxation sparks price increases and controversy originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>asiablack-marketchinacontroversyeconomicseconomygoldgray-marketlawlegalmmo-industryrmtshanghaishanghai-dailytaxtaxestencentvirtual-currencyvirtual-goodsvirtual-itemsvirtual-taxationvirtual-worldszhu-shenshenWed, 19 Nov 2008 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[China legislates 20% tax rate on virtual currency profits]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/03/china-legislates-20-tax-rate-on-virtual-currency-profits/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/03/china-legislates-20-tax-rate-on-virtual-currency-profits/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/03/china-legislates-20-tax-rate-on-virtual-currency-profits/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

While much of the world's gold farming activity is based in mainland China, the black market industry operates in violation of the law. Despite this, a large part of the problem in curbing illegal activities in China is that there's a substantial divide between what the law states is illegal and the actual enforcement of those laws. This may well be the case with the law passed last week by China's State Administration of Taxation, which will impose a personal income tax rate of 20% on profits made from virtual currency.

Juliet Ye at The Wall Street Journal's "China Journal" blog reports: "The policy would cover China's legions of online gamers, who can use online virtual currency to buy better equipment and new powers for their online warriors. But it also affects millions of others who use virtual currencies on instant-messaging services and Web portals." The widespread use of virtual currencies in China spurred last year's restrictions on exchanging virtual currency into RMB. If the new law becomes a reality rather than a technicality in the lives of China's internet users, it will be a substantial change in virtual economics in the country.

MassivelyChina legislates 20% tax rate on virtual currency profits originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>asiachinachina-journaleconomicseconomygoldgold-farmingjuliet-yerenminbirmbtaxtaxationtaxesvirtual-economicsvirtual-economywall-street-journalyuanMon, 03 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Dream of Mirror Online update changes tax rates]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/dream-of-mirror-online-update-changes-tax-rates/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/dream-of-mirror-online-update-changes-tax-rates/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/dream-of-mirror-online-update-changes-tax-rates/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Dream of Mirror Online's version 7.5 update has gone live, and it's accompanied by a new issue of the micro-faux newspaper the Eversun Times. The news: economic hardship has stricken Eversun City, and its leaders are under intense scrutiny. As a result, a new 10% tax rate has gone into effect in the city.

Darkdale and Collington saw tax rate changes as well -- to 4% and 1%, respectively. New quests have been added in both of those towns. And that's it. Okay, so it's not the biggest patch in history. We're not even sure that we like a patch that pretty much just changes the tax code, since we don't like taxes to begin with! But there you have it.

MassivelyDream of Mirror Online update changes tax rates originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aeriaaeria-gamesdomodomo-version-1.75dream-of-mirror-onlineeversun-cityeversun-timespatchtaxesthe-eversun-timesWed, 23 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST