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Interesting article, pointed out to me by Thrakburzug, another staff member on Carrion Fields:
The article raises a number of questions which I've seen bandied about in other publications as well, such as:
1) If a player sells virtual goods (i.e. The Flaming Hammer of Thrakburzug) for RL cash (eBay, etc.), it's obviously income earned from a service you provide. How do the player and/or game report it? How do you deal with an international playerbase?
2) If you 'farm' virtual goods which have a proven RL fair market value, but don't sell them, is this a gain in assets? What if you barter them for things with a fixed market value, like official "tokens" sold at a fixed price by a game? Is any this any different from, say, painting someone's house so they'll fix your car? (As the article points out, such barter exchanges are taxable.) If a "pile of tokens" costs $5000 at a game's website, and someone gives it to you in exchange for doing quests for them, is this any different from them giving you $5000 as a birthday present, or for painting your house?
It sounds like the IRS (the government agency which handles federal taxation in the US, for those overseas) hasn't made any decisions on most of this, largely because they don't fully understand the issues yet. But what will happen as a new generation of twentysomething lawyers and accountants who do understand these markets rise through their ranks?
I admit it sounds like gamers are getting a free ride right now. Once you establish that virtual goods equal money, how are they different from RL "treasures" like property or jewelry?
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