A Tax on SF Books?
24/4/02 10:47![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eredienThis article from an Alabama newspaper talks about a person running for congress who wants to put a 1% tax on the sale of "science fiction books, science fiction comic books, space sciences books and any other space-related literature...The tax would also apply to 'space, space-related, and science fiction toys, puzzles and games,' Williams said in a listing of his platform."
The tax would go to funding NASA research, supposedly.
I am of two minds about this idea. First. I support space exploration. I love space. I support programs like SETI@home and cheered on John Glenn and currently have stickers sitting on my desk from two Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. It would be fair to say that I am obsessed with space.
Second. Books are not as cheap as they used to be (remember when you could get two paperbacks for $10 and still have a little money left over?) and they aren't getting any cheaper with time. And it's not like everyone's incomes are rocketing upwards (pun intended), especially not those of college students and teenaged science-fiction fans, who form a larger-than-normal market share of the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre, in my opinion.
Third. Who's going to define what is and isn't SF, anyway? You have enough trouble getting the fans and authors and editors to decide on that. Imagine the congressmen, passing bills and holding fillibusters to get one novel or another declared taxable. "You can't tax Transmetropolitan! It's, um, social commentary!"
Fourth. Authors put everything into their books, and are constantly getting less and less out of it. After the regular fees (publisher, agent, etc.) you have to worry about if you're even going to sell enough copies to break even, forget about royalties unless you're someone really good. Don't they deserve that 1%, after putting 100% into it?
Fifth. NASA is a government organization. Therefore, they should get government funds, which already come out of the pockets of civilians. Is it really fair to ask civilans to pay again when they want to read a book?
Furthermore, I can see this opening up all sorts of loopholes for every other organization...are they going to put a 1% tax on detective novels to fund the CIA, or a 1% tax on every "Taxes for Dummies" manual to fund the IRS? I mean, come on, people.
Thank goodness he's only a possible candidate for the position.
The tax would go to funding NASA research, supposedly.
I am of two minds about this idea. First. I support space exploration. I love space. I support programs like SETI@home and cheered on John Glenn and currently have stickers sitting on my desk from two Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. It would be fair to say that I am obsessed with space.
Second. Books are not as cheap as they used to be (remember when you could get two paperbacks for $10 and still have a little money left over?) and they aren't getting any cheaper with time. And it's not like everyone's incomes are rocketing upwards (pun intended), especially not those of college students and teenaged science-fiction fans, who form a larger-than-normal market share of the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre, in my opinion.
Third. Who's going to define what is and isn't SF, anyway? You have enough trouble getting the fans and authors and editors to decide on that. Imagine the congressmen, passing bills and holding fillibusters to get one novel or another declared taxable. "You can't tax Transmetropolitan! It's, um, social commentary!"
Fourth. Authors put everything into their books, and are constantly getting less and less out of it. After the regular fees (publisher, agent, etc.) you have to worry about if you're even going to sell enough copies to break even, forget about royalties unless you're someone really good. Don't they deserve that 1%, after putting 100% into it?
Fifth. NASA is a government organization. Therefore, they should get government funds, which already come out of the pockets of civilians. Is it really fair to ask civilans to pay again when they want to read a book?
Furthermore, I can see this opening up all sorts of loopholes for every other organization...are they going to put a 1% tax on detective novels to fund the CIA, or a 1% tax on every "Taxes for Dummies" manual to fund the IRS? I mean, come on, people.
Thank goodness he's only a possible candidate for the position.
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(no subject)
24/4/02 09:37 (UTC)damn government...
(no subject)
24/4/02 16:28 (UTC)(no subject)
24/4/02 17:15 (UTC)