Starting November 14, 2018, PlayStation Store will be collecting City of Chicago’s amusement tax on receipts from PS Plus, PS Now, PS Vue, PS Music, PS Video on Demand, and PS Video Live Events from customers with a Chicago billing address.
Many will be familiar with the tax (also known as “cloud” or “streaming” tax) as it’s been subject to lawsuits from various companies and organizations including Apple, Netflix, and the Entertainment Software Association. The Liberty Justice Center also unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit against the tax, arguing that it was discriminatory as it didn’t apply to live performances and amusement machines.
While legal cases are ongoing, Sony has reached an agreement with authorities, and will begin collecting the aforementioned tax – the current rate of which is nine percent – starting next week.
Gamers are understandably upset by the development, and it has alarmed the Liberty Justice Center.
“We think the city doesn’t have the constitutional right to do that.” said senior attorney Jeffrey Schwab. “They tax not based on whether or not anyone used it [the streaming services] in Chicago, but if they had a billing address in Chicago.”
While Apple and several others are still fighting the tax, PlayStation will be joining Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, and Pandora in collecting it.
[Source: CBS, David Lee Matthews (Twitter)]
