Alabama House Bill 180
H.B. 180 would deem to be profit from a crime any income generated from a movie, book, or any other media that describes or depicts the crime and includes any thoughts, feelings, opinions, or emotions of “an individual.”
Category: taxation based on content
Pennsylvania House Bill 109
H.B. 109 would impose a 10 percent tax on the sale of any video game rated “Mature” or “Adults Only” by the video game industry rating system.
Pennsylvania House Bill 2705
Pennsylvania state Rep. Christopher B. Quinn, R-Media, released a memorandum on September 25, 2018 stating his intent “to introduce legislation which would assess a 10% sales tax on video games that contains violent material.”
Massachusetts House Bill 1399
Massachusetts H.B. 1399 would require anyone who enters into a contract with anyone charged or convicted of a crime to report it to the state Attorney General and post a bond equal to the value of the contract.
Alabama House Bill 39
Alabama H.B. 39 would impose a 40 percent tax on “harmful to minors” material, with the exception of movies rated “R” or “NC-17.” It would also impose a 10 percent tax on sexually oriented material.
South Carolina Proviso 89
South Carolina Proviso 89 would impose a 20% tax on printed matter that contains “frontal nudity.”
Indiana House Bill 1042
Indiana H.B. 1042 would bar any business or individual from selling any material that contains “sexually explicit” content unless they have registered with the Secretary of State.
Alabama House Bill 153
Alabama H.B. 153 would impose a 30% tax on material that is legally obscene for adults and “adult novelty items.” “Adult novelty items” is defined to include “material that is sexually oriented in nature.”
Press Release: Media Organizations Ask Supreme Court to Review New York Decision Which Approved Content-Based Tax on First Amendment-Protected Communication
Some of Media Coalition’s members signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to review a decision of the New York Court of Appeals which upheld a content-based tax on communication protected by the First Amendment.
West Virginia House Bill 2119
West Virginia H.B. 2119 would impose a $1 tax on the sale or rental of any material deemed obscene by the tax commissioner.
677 New Loudon Corporation v. New York Tax Appeals Tribunal
The U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for a writ of certiorari, concerning whether a state may discriminate in taxation among First Amendment-protected materials based on the perceived value of their content.
Washington House Bill 2103
Washington H.B. 2103 would impose a sales tax on “adult entertainment material” and define “adult” material as any material that is primarily interested in sex, using sex acts that would merit an “X” rating from the Motion Picture Association of America as a benchmark.
Tennessee Senate Bill 1236
Tennessee S.B. 1236 would enact a 25% sales tax on advertising in certain periodicals for sexually-oriented material and adult materials that are restricted for anyone less than 18.
Tennessee Senate Bill 2860 and House Bill 3081
Tennessee S.B. 2860 and H.B. 3081 would impose a 25% tax on any material “harmful to minors”; any material sold or rented at a store with an “adults only” section; and any movies with “sexually explicit” content, with the exception of movies rated “R” or “NC-17″ by the Motion Picture Association of America.
Oklahoma House Bill 2696
Oklahoma H.B. 2696 would impose a 1% excise tax on violent video games. This tax would be added on top of already existing state or local taxes imposed on general merchandise.
New York Assembly Bill 290
New York A.B. 290 would impose a $2 surcharge on each magazine, video, DVD, or website registered in New York that contains nude images.
Bay News v. Freda Roberts, Tax Collector of Mobile County, Alabama
The Alabama Circuit Court struck down a Mobile County tax on magazines that depicted nudity.
