The Dam has Broken for SL

I pay my taxes.

I understand what you are saying-and theoretically I agree with you.

The same should hold true with the digital credits in the "gaming" industry. We all have our likes and dislikes in SL. Gaming does not bother me, and I will admit that I played poker in SL. I do not like, or frequent the sex clubs, or escort services. However, I will fight for their right to continue to operate. Simply because I don't frequent such establishments doesn't mean I think they should be banned.

I believe BunBun's point was that by Linden Labs standpoint on the casino industry in SL, they have now opened SL up to a whole host of other regulations. By and large, many things that are acceptable in SL are not openly tolerated in RL.

By citing the ban on online gambling, Linden Labs has *given* their digital credits monetary value. It could be argued that the online poker sites that have been banned to US players, like Party Poker, were dealing in digital credits as well. Players bought their chips-so they were playing with chips, not $$. While I was at Party Poker, my chips had no value to anyone outside of that venue. I don't think the tax man would want to be paid with virtual poker chips either. You cannot tell where my $L credit comes from, unlike playing at Party Poker. The idea behind the online gambling law was dealing with money acquired through a specific site devoted to poker. SL is not. We buy $L, so we are not playing with real $$.

Like the situation coming out of Germany with the child/adult sexual encounter...this world is evolving into something that governments are paying attention to. The US Presidential Candidates have virtual campaign offices.

IMO, like the real world, certain people don't want to see things. They don't consider them respectable, and so they make them go away. A lot of us came to SL for freedom to get away from RL--freedom to be whoever or what ever avatar we chose to be. Animal, vegetable or mineral. With this action, SL is becoming more like RL.

On L$? How? I doubt your government accepts them.

The L$ has no more value than a casino chip for the purposes of the gambling ban.

WE trade them for cash. LL will not accept L$ but will sell it to us. For you to pay LL means you need to sell the L$ to another Resident then pay LL with USD.

The L$ is STILL worthless.

~Jessy

It all depends on your local laws, so check with a tax professional or attorney first.


Any due taxes would simply be withheld from your payment before you received it.

You might want to check this out

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw8ben.pdf

yes they do

Apologies to Regal btw. I got you mixed up with the OP, hence all the "your original point" business. Turns out they weren't your points at all.

L$ is RL dollars earned if you cash out, in the US you must legally report all cashed out L$ as income.
L$ are only digital credit or whatever you wish to call them until you convert it to other currency, if that currency is US$ you are obligated to report it as income.

No they don't. You pay taxes on US dollars. You can't pay tax on something that is not a currency.

Really. I've been in SL just nine months and I've already seen its obituary written six or seven times. Every time there is any significant policy change/announcement, there come the inevitable lamentations. "this is the end of SL." yadda yadda yadda.

Right, you can't pay your tier with lindens, you need to cash them out first.

Surely L$ profits would only be taxable when re-converted back to RL currencies. That is the same for any other profits - if you have a barn full of left shoes, they would only be taxable if you managed to sell them all to, say, dancers with 2 left feet, at a profit.

What LL might think of - and we sould all speak in whispers or they might take up $the idea - is introducing in-world taxes to support SL - like a 1L$ teleport tax, or a 5% sales tax on land. But sshhh! - it seems such a good idea that if they find out they might try it!!!

Yes but then it's not the L$. Those suggesting the L$ is an actual currency and talking of tax are talking about all inworld transactions. So out of my weekly stipend of a whopping L$300 I'd owe tax even if that money never left the world.

Pardon my generalization here, I was referring to US citizens paying their taxes, and not insinuating that we should expect those of you not in the US to pay them as well.



That was my point...she has cashed out her Linden's and converted them to USD.

that would keep the campers ghettoed wouldn't it..

Its pretty simple folks,

If you have a business within SL that you make money on, then

(a) Dollars you pay Linden Labs for your premium account, land tier, and buying lindens
are business expense, for "internet account and hosting services" some similar category
of expense.

(b) Dollars you receive when selling L$ are "receipts for internet services provided"

(c) Anything that happens in between is editing data on Linden Labs servers and databases,
and is not any more taxable than editing a web page, or writing an email.

Get it? Dollars out= expense, Dollars in= income,
(Dollars in - Dollars out) x (Your tax rate) = how much tax you owe

(If you really have a business in SL, then your broadband fees and your PC hardware
are also legitimate expenses)

Exactly. LL is the plastic manufacturer who produces casino chips. They sell them to collectors and everyone else who wants to buy them for whatever purpose. The collectors then sell these chips between each other.
Now they have even forbidden to use their plastic chips in casinos and they've become a pure collector's item.

Another point... you already pay your taxes on Linden Dollars when you buy them, in form of value-added tax. I'm pretty sure that the VAT is included in the purchase price of L$, virtual land and everything else sold by LL. If you receive L$ from another resident, that resident has once paid VAT and it's now a second hand sale.

No, it's an admission that Linden dollars, in On Line Gambling Fills the same role as Poker chips, and Money Plaques at a Casino. The money you Withdrew from SL has ALWAYS been taxable, But as long as it remains in the form of linden Dollars it is unrealized Income, and not taxable.
This has been coverd many times before, and it would be Nice if people Read and Made an Effort to understand their Tax Laws before going all "Chicken Little" on us.

And for those of you who didn't Understand the Preceding, here is a Translation into a language you Obviously Understand:
Buck- Buck- Buck-Buckaawww!, Cluck cluck, Cock-a-Doodle-Doooo!!

Angel.

They are only worthless if nobody will buy them. You can sell your L$ and receive currency for them. Just like casino chips. Just like stocks, just like diamonds.

Here is a good example:

You go to a regulated casino in RL and purchase $1000 USD in chips. you have a good night and win all night.

you now have $1000000 USD in chips, you take them home and swim in them on your bed for a year, tossing them all over yourself as you giggle like a schoolgirl. no tax yet!!!

You return to the casino and cash them in, and thats when you fill out your IRS form G-4 and report them as taxable income, not before.

Oh, your just beggin for an AR aren't you? lol

Phew! Thank you, you've explained it much better than I have been trying to explain it.

I wonder who exactly is so bothered about gambling being banned in SL. OK quite a lot of people used to go to casinos but did they ever make much money?

The protestors I've seen appear to be ex-casino owners, who were onto a good thing operating games that were, at best, loaded in their favour and at worst, cheated punters out of their winnings. There was a casino near my place, now gone, that was nearly always empty but had 80 people on the ban list - it doesn't take much reading between the lines to work out why!

Gaming in SL amounted to a scam anyway and I for one say good riddance!

lol smartarse!