At the fourth annual State of Play/Terra Nova symposium, a panel discussion on the tax implications of real assets in virtual worlds offered attendees a clear message: paying taxes on such assets is just a matter of time. One panelist, Bryan Camp, tax professor at the Texas Tech University School of Law, noted that existing law is sufficiently broadly defined that revenue from activities in a virtual world, such as Second Life or World of Warcraft, is already subject to taxes, despite there being no mechanism to track or collect such taxes.
William LaPiana, a wills, trusts, and estates professor at New York Law School, made similar comments, saying that estates above a certain threshold are subject to tax, and that includes virtual assets that are part of those estates. Dan Miller, a senior economist with the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, said, “[T]he question is when, not if, Congress and IRS start paying attention to these issues.” That committee is expected to release a report next year outlining the government’s approach to the issues of taxation on events and assets held in virtual worlds.CNET, 3 December 2006
http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6140298.html
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