Philly Tells Bloggers to Pay Up, For Biz Licenses

Indeed, it's true that some make quite a bit of money from blogging. Some make almost nothing, however. Still, Philadelphia says "a business is a business" and has started to track down bloggers and force them to buy a $300 business license.

According to a report from a Philadelphia news site (not blog!), one such blogger, Marilyn Bess, has a low-traffic blog and has made a total of $50 over a "few years." Meanwhile, the cost of a business license would run $300. The cash-strapped city, obviously not wanting to miss any chance at some extra revenue, sent her a letter.

"The real kick in the pants is that I don't even have a full-time job, so for the city to tell me to pony up $300 for a business privilege license, pay wage tax, business privilege tax, net profits tax on a handful of money is outrageous."

The city simply states that such a license is required whether or not a "business" makes money. Going by the letter of the law, this is, in fact, correct.


It's also true that if you rake in any money at all from blogging, you will affect your unemployment insurance. That is, of course, something that all bloggers need to keep in mind, as well. If you have a full-time job, you might want to be ready to bail on your blog unless you make more than unemployment will pay.

Meanwhile, one option would seem to be: remove all ads. That would seem to satisfy the city, as there would be no way for you to make money. Since the city is probably using your IP address to determine if you live within their boundaries, one could, if one were clever enough, use an IP scrambler. You might then receive a request for a business license from Moscow, however.