Bad News For Bloggers
A very unpleasant story out of Philadelphia for bloggers. The city wants to crack down on people who are running a business without a license. Sounds reasonable - until I read that this includes little ol' local bloggers who are running ads on their sites.
According to the weekly Philadelphia City Paper, several small-scale bloggers received letters from the city demanding that they get a $300 license to operate a local business.
I don't know about Philly bloggers, but a $300 license would wipe all the "ad revenue" from Serendipity35 for the past five years!
The idea that a blogger with a few Google or Amazon ads is "conducting commercial activity" is stretching it. I actually have listed on my tax form any income from blogging in the past, and that seems to be what triggered the city to find local businesses operating without licenses.
"The IRS is the fastest way to find them, though we have other avenues that we don't advertise," a Philadelphia Department of Revenue representative told CNNMoney.com.
According to the weekly Philadelphia City Paper, several small-scale bloggers received letters from the city demanding that they get a $300 license to operate a local business.
I don't know about Philly bloggers, but a $300 license would wipe all the "ad revenue" from Serendipity35 for the past five years!
The idea that a blogger with a few Google or Amazon ads is "conducting commercial activity" is stretching it. I actually have listed on my tax form any income from blogging in the past, and that seems to be what triggered the city to find local businesses operating without licenses.
"The IRS is the fastest way to find them, though we have other avenues that we don't advertise," a Philadelphia Department of Revenue representative told CNNMoney.com.
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