[georgekv]

knock knock

"Hello, it's the IRS."

[trafficlight]

What is this supposed to mean? Are you suggesting selling virtual items is illegal in some way? Perhaps you should tell Zynga and Valve about this.

[DrJokepu]

No he means that if you sell them, you have to pay the due taxes. Zynga and Valve supposedly pay their taxes. The difference is that in this case it's the individuals who make a profit and the IRS (or other tax agencies) would make such a "virtual goods for real money public marketplace" more complicated.

[libraryatnight]

I believe he means if you manage to make enough money with the auction house, the IRS will be curious if you're reporting this as income and paying taxes etc.

[aresant]

This is going to be interesting.

Anybody selling "virtual items" will have a cost basis of "0" if self created, so everything is "profit" in the IRS' eyes.

If Blizzard is collecting the payments they are obligated to track those transactions and report anybody that hits the minimum 1099 threshold.

If you're in CA and sell to somebody in CA will you have to pay the state board of equalization too for sales tax?

Very curious to see how this is all addressed.

[justjimmy]

Hardly '0'.

The game. The hardware to run the game. ISP cost. The fees.

It all adds up. Not to mention Blizzard will be implementing their own restrictions (AH and $ limits) to choke and put up barriers for those that really want to make this a full time job.

[vibrunazo]

Is it too much different from how ebay deals with it?