Proposed New York State Budget Would Tax DLC

In addition to a tax on iPod purchases, the recently proposed New York state budget could impose a tax on downloadable games or game content.

GamePolitics notes that the budget includes a provision for "downloaded music and other digitally delivered entertainment services," which would include digital videogame-related content.

The budget excerpt follows:

Close Digital Property Taxation Loophole: Imposes state and local sales tax on purchases of prewritten software, digital audio, audio-visual and text files, digital photographs, games, and other electronically delivered entertainment services to achieve tax parity. For example, with the passage of this bill, a book, song, album, or movie would be subject to sales tax no matter if it was bought at a brick and mortar store or downloaded online.

Many states already tax purchases of digital content, including: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and West Virginia.