It is nearly impossible to walk a block in downtown Madison without seeing someone bobbing his or her head to the beat of an iPod. I have a message for all you iPod users-be prepared to pay more taxes than the rest of us.
If Gov. Jim Doyle gets his way, iPod users downloading music legally, through a service such as iTunes, would be required to pay a 5 percent sales tax for each song downloaded. The tax would also apply to movies, books and art downloaded for a fee. The proposed tax is neither smart politics nor smart policy.
Dubbed the \iPod tax"" by Rep. Scott Jensen, R-Waukesha, it is sure to produce a political backlash because Gov. Doyle broke a promise by proposing it. During the governor's 2005 budget address, he said, ""keeping my promise, we will eliminate this $1.6 billion deficit without raising taxes.""
Just five weeks later Doyle broke his promise with the new iPod tax. Students are already bombarding Governor Doyle over rising tuition. He can hardly afford to irritate them even more by taxing something so many students enjoy-music.
It is not worth it for Doyle to break his promise, considering how ineffective this new tax will be. Compliance with the iPod tax would be voluntary, which means few will actually pay. Wisconsin taxpayers are already required to estimate the sales tax on goods they purchase through the internet or mail order. Only 1 percent of taxpayers reported anything last year, which is likely far less than the percentage who made an online purchase.
The issue of voluntary compliance also destroys the rationale for the new tax cited by the Doyle administration. They say it levels the playing field for businesses without an online presence, which obviously require consumers to pay taxes on their purchases. However, this explanation folds because as long as consumers can get away with not paying taxes online, realistically, iTunes will still have an advantage over the local CD store.
Why should anyone pay the tax, anyway? For the few who do comply with the tax, it punishes them monetarily for obeying the law. Meanwhile, those who break the law, maybe unknowingly, are rewarded with lower taxes. Additionally, the tax encourages iPod users to turn to free, illegal downloads to avoid the even larger extra cost of iTunes and the hassle of tracking song purchases. Any law that encourages two illegal activities is bad policy.
Doyle ought to abandon the iPod tax not only for his political future, but because it is poor policy. If he continues to push this new tax look for Republicans to gain momentum against Doyle because of a broken promise and a ridiculous new tax.
Nick Rotchadl is a junior majoring in journalism and political science.
