If you do a bit of digging around on the City of Philadelphia website, you will find the following text under the Description of the Business Privilege Tax section:
"Every individual, partnership, association and corporation engaged in a business, profession or other activity for profit within the City of Philadelphia must file a Business Privilege Tax Return, whether or not they earned a profit during the preceding year."(http://www.phila.gov/revenue/pdfs/Rev%20PDFs/BPT_internet.pd...)
Basically, this is a $300 one-time licensing fee to conduct a business from a property within the City of Philadelphia.
There are two types of examples that this article uses:
1) Home-based "I'm just dicking around and use Google ads to offset the cost of my basic Wordpress subscription and server" bloggers. This seems kind of shady to me and I would be really interested to see about what an actual accountant and/or lawyer would have to say about this. After all, this is someone going asking the City of Philadelphia's Revenue Department if they have to pay more taxes. That's like going to a divorce lawyer and asking if you need a divorce... of COURSE the answer is going to be "yes."
2) Home-based business that turns no profit - Regardless of the profitability of a business, in the United States (and most everywhere else in the world) you have to pay the relevant city/state/county/federal licensing/inspection/regulatory/screw-you fees. That's the way running a business is. Don't like it? Don't run a business (out of your house or otherwise) if you can't make peace with that.
All in all I find this article to be long on rhetoric, anecdote and high-minded moralizing and short on details and investigative journalism. Were I a denizen of the City of Philadelphia and concerned about this, I would put in a couple of hours of research at the reference desk of the public library and wait for some better analysis on this subject from a slightly more reputable source before shelling out for this fee.
2) Home-based business that turns no profit - Regardless of the profitability of a business, in the United States (and most everywhere else in the world) you have to pay the relevant city/state/county/federal licensing/inspection/regulatory/screw-you fees.
2) does not apply in India, at least. As a 'sole proprietor' you pay taxes on profits as per personal income tax.
No profits, or profits under the minimum taxable limit: no taxes.
Don't like it? Don't run a business out of your home.
That sucks though, because many people are honest and to drive them in to dishonesty with such stupid policies is setting up for bigger dishonesty down the line. If you're already a tax fugitive for $50 why stop there?
Massachusetts is quite sane about this sort of thing. Only those that "[are] conducting business in the commonwealth under any title other than the real name of the person [or corporation]" (http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/110-5.htm) need to file for a business certificate. So, sole proprietors and incorporated entities are exempt, leaving only those operating under a different name (e.g. DBA's and such). The filing fee is also far more reasonable: for example, $50 in Northampton and Boston, $40 in Holyoke.
Another nail in the coffin of the antiquated "taxachusetts" term.
"Every individual, partnership, association and corporation engaged in a business, profession or other activity for profit within the City of Philadelphia must file a Business Privilege Tax Return, whether or not they earned a profit during the preceding year."(http://www.phila.gov/revenue/pdfs/Rev%20PDFs/BPT_internet.pd...)
Basically, this is a $300 one-time licensing fee to conduct a business from a property within the City of Philadelphia.
There are two types of examples that this article uses:
1) Home-based "I'm just dicking around and use Google ads to offset the cost of my basic Wordpress subscription and server" bloggers. This seems kind of shady to me and I would be really interested to see about what an actual accountant and/or lawyer would have to say about this. After all, this is someone going asking the City of Philadelphia's Revenue Department if they have to pay more taxes. That's like going to a divorce lawyer and asking if you need a divorce... of COURSE the answer is going to be "yes."
2) Home-based business that turns no profit - Regardless of the profitability of a business, in the United States (and most everywhere else in the world) you have to pay the relevant city/state/county/federal licensing/inspection/regulatory/screw-you fees. That's the way running a business is. Don't like it? Don't run a business (out of your house or otherwise) if you can't make peace with that.
All in all I find this article to be long on rhetoric, anecdote and high-minded moralizing and short on details and investigative journalism. Were I a denizen of the City of Philadelphia and concerned about this, I would put in a couple of hours of research at the reference desk of the public library and wait for some better analysis on this subject from a slightly more reputable source before shelling out for this fee.