[unfletch]

> "Is Pennsylvania subjecting streaming services to a different level of taxation is their non-streaming competitors?"

The first sentence of the article (emphasis mine): "Pennsylvania has joined several states in enacting a tax on digital streaming and download services."

Unless you can think of a competitor that offers neither streams nor downloads, no, they're not.

[metaphorm]

the relevant competitors would be cable television, subscription satellite TV services, and various forms of offline media distributing the same content (DVDs at Walmart for example).

[unfletch]

I'm not sure how offline competition relates to the "net neutrality" topic in this thread, but any offline competitor necessarily has a physical presence in the state, so it would have been subject to tax for from the beginning.

[metaphorm]

so not DVDs at Walmart then. what about satellite or cable TV?

[HuggableSquare]

DVDs at Walmart would be covered by sales tax, as would satellite and cable TV, unless it's a basic subscription.

From Pa. Code § 9.2. Sales and use tax changes:

(2) Pay television. Pay television except for ‘‘minimum pay television’’ is taxable. This includes anything charged to a customer for a service other than minimum pay television service. For example, if a cable television customer purchases basic service and in addition purchases a ‘‘pay’’ channel, tax is owed on the price charged for the ‘‘pay’’ channel. Installation and repair service for pay television with the exception of minimum pay television also is subject to tax.