Marilyn Bess’s hobby is a low-traffic blog about green living. Between her blog and few pieces to ehow.com, she made about fifty bucks over three years, and now the city of Filthydelphia wants a piece of the action. And the city government’s not just shakin’ her down. After reporting their small earnings on this year’s tax filings, several Philadelphia bloggers have received notices demanding $300 for a privilege license as well as taxes on any profits.
“The real kick in the pants is that I don’t even have a full-time job, so for the city to tell me to pony up $300 for a business privilege license, pay wage tax, business privilege tax, net profits tax on a handful of money is outrageous.”—Marilyn Bess
According to tax attorney Michael Mandale, it doesn’t matter if bloggers make only a pittance, Filthydelphia mandates privilege licenses for any business engaged in an “activity for profit whether or not they earned a profit during the preceding year.”
Filthydelphia’s city government, like most governments in major U.S. cities, is run by Democrats. To those Filthydelphians who continually vote for the “protectors of the downtrodden,” I offer the following advice: Take comfort in what your Vice President Joe Biden said when Democrat officials stop by to shake the loose change from your pockets or to appropriate the gold filings from your teeth:
“Time to be patriotic … time to jump in; time to be part of the deal; time to help get America out of the rut.”— Joe Biden, Democrat Vice President of the U.S.
When Filthydelphians elect looter Democrats to make their city’s tax laws and policies, they richly deserve fleecing. So shut up while they rob you blind and take comfort in knowing that you are a patriot.
For more on the Filthydelphia blogger tax, see Philly requiring bloggers to pay $300 for a business license by Mark Hemingway and Pay Up by Valerie Rubinsky.
I.M. Kane
