Although an economic value can be put on this trade because in-game currencies do have an equivalent real world value, committee chairman Jim Saxton said its investigation was not being carried out with a view to slapping taxes on this trade.
“There is a concern that the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) might step forward with regulations that start taxing transactions that occur within virtual economies,” said Mr Saxton. “This, I believe, would be a mistake.”
Read this article from the BBC Technoogy News with commentary from Ars, C|Net and ZDNet. Previously from WNM: Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier; Virtual property market booming; Online “banker” runs off with cash, avatars cry foul and Virtual Retailing. How many “Linden” dollars do a pair of shorts cost?
