The United States is a country in which each state has its own tax law, so it is normal to see that there are taxes in one state that are not adopted in another. The same thing will happen soon in Chicago, a state that has passed an ”entertainment tax”, a tax that taxes online entertainment services, such as Netflix, and that will raise the price of PlayStation Plus, among other Sony services, too.
Some time ago, the city of Chicago passed a law that boosted the tax on streaming content services. Xbox, Netflix, and Spotify, among others. These are now services for which users in that state must pay 9% more than those in other states of the country, and now Sony will see how this tax will damage several of its divisions. And yes, PlayStation Plus games will now cost a little more.
PlayStation Plus Prices Go Up, As The State of Chicago Adopted a New ‘Entertainment Tax’
Starting on November 14th, the price of PlayStation Plus will rise 9% in Chicago, but the tax will also affect other services such as PlayStation Now, PlayStation Vue, PlayStation Music, PlayStation Video on Demand and PlayStation Video Live Events. All these services operate in the cloud and precisely this ”cloud tax” could be implemented in other cities, such as New York.
Mayor Ralph Emanuel’s explanation for this ”entertainment tax”, as it is known locally, is that it helps pay pensions, no more, no less. Of course, companies don’t stand idly by, since it’s the users who have to pay that extra 9%, and companies can witness many unsubscriptions due to the tax.
Companies like Apple and Netflix are, at the moment, trying to act to eliminate this tax, which does not tax the physical content, for example, or the sales of digital games, but in the meantime, it will be time to go through the checkout process, if you live in Chicago, of course. Let’s hope a ”cloud tax” doesn’t reach other regions as well.
