Gamers more used to battling demons, giants and dragons may soon be tacking another mortal enemy - the tax man. BBC News released an article about a hot topic: the inevitable trend of taxing in virtual world.
The details are as below:
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Many sites sell game gold to players keen to kit out their characters. |
Slowly but surely authorities around the world are turning their attention to online games and virtual worlds and the tax-exempt status of the economic activity taking place within them.
They are places where people can make virtual millions selling land, property, weapons and even people. But as tax havens their days may be numbered.
In October, China's tax authority announced that it would focus on a previously ignored sector of its economy: the trade in virtual goods and currency. Sweden and South Korea have also moved to clarify the tax rules for virtual money.
Cost plus
Some wish them well, some wish them ill, but many are just pondering how to go about taxing goods and services that are by their nature immaterial.
The two most obvious moments when taxes could be applied are when virtual goods are sold for real money on places such as eBay or when a transaction happens in-game.
Many people sell gold, items and even characters via online marketplaces for many popular games - often a new World of Warcraft player will buy a character from a veteran because they don't want to work their own way up the ranks.
This transaction involves cold, hard cash and is already taxable in most countries - although the taxes are rarely enforced.
China has outlawed such trades, which are big business because of "gold farms", where people generate vast amounts of in-game goodies, usually gold, by endlessly repeating tasks that earn rewards within the game.
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