Guild Wars 2

Huck.1405:

I’ve meaning to ask for a while here, what’s with the “tax” now when buying gems at the TP? Is this something legit, or just another way to squeeze more money out of us?

I’d like to hear something from a Team Member.

Not sure on if there is or not to be honest. BUT, all the taxes, they are good for us. Why? Because they combat inflation. All the gold you get from simply in game means, not TP but drops, doing dungeons, selling superior/minor sigils, etc. That’s all bringing gold into the economy. If you don’t bleed that a bit you’ll eventually see inflation. Your 1 gold will only be worth 75 silver and so on.

So taxes in the TP are actually good for us. In the moment sure they suck, but the fact that they’re there is a good thing overall.

It’s a sales tax, which is required for many, many purchases in many states.

There’s no way in hell Anet would be charging a “sales tax” and not giving the money to the government. I’ve heard a lot of tinfoil hat theories since launch, but that has to be the worst.

Mostly likely state laws have changed and Anet is complying. What state do you live in?

A lot of states have recently changed tax laws regarding digital purchases. I know only a few months ago several of the laws were changed in my state regarding digital purchase, gift card purchases for websites, and so on. Actually, an Amazon warehouse was approved to be built in my state recently only if Amazon forced its customers in the state to pay sales tax, otherwise it was to be rejected.

Sad to say it’s probably changes in state legislation on your end, or where GW2 is operating, or there’s other legislation regarding income. Either way, ANet claiming the money as tax collection and it not being so would be fraud and they’d get sued and probably shut down quickly; not something I see a multi-hundred-million-dollar company doing :P

Huck, unless I’m mistaken, a law was passed a few months ago allowing any internet sales to be charged a sales tax if your state has one.

Likely the case as well. Tax laws are a whole big jumble and don’t play well together (that’s what accountants are for), so who really knows exactly where the money’s going haha. All I know is the government has been cracking down on digital sales for the past few years.

OP before accusing any online company of wrongdoing check out this article:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/prepare-for-more-taxes-on-apps-e-books-and-movies-2014-03-12

This seems to have changed when they moved their payment processing to Digital River in Minnesota. When I still lived in MN after the shift to DR, I was charged tax. I put in a ticket indicating that ANet’s offices weren’t in MN regardless of payment processor, and that DR isn’t considered a “nexus” under MN tax law, therefore sales tax could not be assessed. (EDIT: Digital River is based in Minnesota, which is why all this is relevant!)

After a fruitless discussion, at some point the (admittedly minute) overcharge was reversed.

Bottom line: in some instances, ANet is required to collect sales tax on the purchase of digital currency that can be used to purchase items of value (even intangibles like armor skins in a game). And as other posters have pointed out, many states are trying to cash in on the Internet sales tax “loophole.” It’s one of those regulation failures that Amazon exploited to achieve market dominance (or conversely, it’s one of the cumbersome laws prohibiting businesses from expanding and earning higher profits depending on your POV). It’s possible that your state has laws (perhaps starting on Jan 1st) to govern Internet-based sales tax – you should look into it and petition your state congress if you don’t like it. But … welcome to the future. So much tax revenue has been lost over the past decade that I doubt you’ll see it go away.

Huck.1405:

My only reason for being suspicious of this not being sales tax is the variance in percentage. 10% and 5% respectively on my 2 purchases. That’s what raised my eyebrows. Sales tax percentage does not vary with the amount being taxed, it’s the same. And 10% is pretty high for a state sales tax.

So instead of posting on the forums with a half-baked theory and no real evidence, why not just contact support and ask? Seems to me that no one here can give you any real answer.

Huck.1405:

Vayne.8563:

Huck.1405:

My only reason for being suspicious of this not being sales tax is the variance in percentage. 10% and 5% respectively on my 2 purchases. That’s what raised my eyebrows. Sales tax percentage does not vary with the amount being taxed, it’s the same. And 10% is pretty high for a state sales tax.

So instead of posting on the forums with a half-baked theory and no real evidence, why not just contact support and ask? Seems to me that no one here can give you any real answer.

Because I’m sure that others are wondering the same thing and Anet answering me here will answer for everybody as well.

And in what way is pointing out a major variance in “tax” percentages a “half-baked theory”? That’s not a theory, it’s a hard FACT.

Anet squeezing people by inventing a tax that they’re not paying to the state is certainly a half baked theory. NcSoft is a public company, not some small corner store. I can’t think of a single reason for them in do what you’re saying. Not one.

It’s almost automatically going to come out, it’s going to break several laws and would end up in several lawsuits. There’s no compelling reason for them to do this.

It’s not a fact to me that you were charged two different amounts, to me that’s hearsay.

Two things in life are certain, death and taxes… and I’m not entirely sure about the former.