Chicago Amusement Tax is not a Joke
The United States places taxes on the sale of goods and services, and on the lease of goods and services. These taxes are called sales taxes. Amusement taxes are one of the sales taxes. So what are amusement taxes? Also called entertainment taxes, they are taxes on entertainment activities. They include cinemas or theatre and other sorts of entertainment, including online gambling (which will make promo codes and bonuses such as the Mohegan Sun promo code even more helpful). The majority of states in the United States apply standardized sales taxes, while just a few apply their own sales taxes. Chicago is among these few. Nowadays, Chicago Amusement Tax has become the main topic in the United States. Living in Chicago has become more expensive because citizens will have to pay an extra 9% taxes on online entertainment. This means that you pay taxes on music websites, and other kinds of online entertainment.
Since it is one of the major topics in the country, we will try to explain what the Chicago Amusement tax is and how it will influence the residents of Chicago.
WHAT IS CHICAGO AMUSEMENT TAX?
Chicago amusement tax, as we mentioned above, is a tax on online entertainment. That means that if you live in Chicago and you use Netflix, for example, you will have to pay 9% tax. Chicago’s Department of Finances has put Chicago’s amusement tax into action in order to generate an additional 12 million dollars annually for the state. What is the reason behind the taxes? The state needs to decrease the budget deficit of the state which is around 430 million dollars. Even though Chicago has been on the top list when it comes to taxes, the government of the state decided to apply one more tax on the citizens and thus burden them even more.
THE ADVANTAGE OF CHICAGO AMUSEMENT TAX
Even though the citizens will be burdened with the amount of money they need to pay, the taxes will help the state a lot. Chicago has an enormous budget deficit, 430 million dollars to be precise. In addition, in 2016, salaries of police and firefighter officers were increased a lot. The increase in salaries makes a deficit of 530 million dollars. By applying one more tax, the state will be able to decrease the deficit. However, it goes without saying that the amusement tax will not help a lot and that the tax is just an additional burden for the citizens.
THE DISADVANTAGES OF CHICAGO AMUSEMENT TAX
Chicago amusement tax has many disadvantages. Firstly, the citizens will have to pay an extra 9% tax. Secondly, the tax breaks the Internet Freedom Act. It is a discriminatory tax. In addition, Chicago amusement tax breaks the Digital Goods and Services act that states that the citizens do not need to pay multiple taxes when buying some digital goods or services. Finally, it seems that this tax is just another way to take advantage of the Internet.
We hope that the tax will be retrieved soon and that the citizens will be able to enjoy online entertainment without paying additional 9% taxes.