of such events. Yet with the blurring of the ‘real’ with the virtual, most evident in the take up of Bitcoin and championing of Blockchain as an almost universal answer to all problems, it’s appropriate to ask – what are they (governments and tax authorities) doing about all this? There’s not only the chance for tax evasion by the transfer of assets but the tax loss from the generating untaxed income and capital. There’s also the greater chance that criminal money laundering of ‘real’ – to virtual – back to ‘real’ currencies may happen…or is already happening.
Various countries are looking at this…to varying degrees. Australia treats virtual income the same as ‘real’ income. China – with an estimated 100,000+ involved in ‘Gold Farming’ (individuals acquiring in- game credits for ‘real’ cash) has banned the purchase of ‘real’ cash for virtual currencies…but NOT vice versa. Japan’s urged the gaming companies to self-regulate and promised to investigate fraud. South Korea has some of the stiffest penalties – USD 45,000 fine AND up to 5 years in prison. In the U.S. the IRS has allegedly expressed concern about this as a rising source of non-tax compliance.
If this has made you think…then GOOD! If you’re still unsure, let me run this past you. The game EverQuest was, until the advent of World of Warcraft (WOW has between 8 – 9 million monthly subscribers) and subsequently League of Legends, a leader and perhaps then the biggest MMO. Back in December 2003, the in-game credits of EverQuest amounted to a GDP of about USD 2,266 per user in ‘real’ terms. This would’ve put EverQuest at 77th in the world if it were a country…or par at the time with Croatia, Ecuador, Tunisia and Vietnam. Just remember, they then had/ have far better investor and corporate protection than the MMOs.
Eddie Tofpik E:
eddie.tofpik@
admisi.com T: +44(0) 20 7716 8201
17 | ADMISI - The Ghost In The Machine | November/December 2017
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
