Material harmful to minors; creates tax on electronic distribution.

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Tax on Harmful Material for Minors

This bill creates a tax on commercial entities that distribute harmful material to minors through adult websites based in Virginia.

What This Bill Does

• Creates a new tax of 10% on the gross receipts from sales, distributions, memberships, and other content related to material harmful to minors for any commercial entity operating an adult website.
• Defines 'adult website' as a platform that uses the internet to share pictures, videos, or other content where a significant part is considered harmful to minors.
• Specifies that the tax applies only if the harmful material was produced, sold, filmed, generated, or based in Virginia.
• Requires all revenue from this new tax to be put into the Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Trust Fund.

Who It Names or Affects

• Commercial entities operating adult websites that distribute content harmful to minors.
• The Department of Taxation which will collect and enforce the tax.

Terms To Know

Adult website

A platform using the internet to share pictures, videos, or other content where a significant part is considered harmful to minors.

Material harmful to minors

Content that is defined as harmful according to Virginia law.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if the tax is found invalid or unconstitutional.
• It's unclear how this new tax will be enforced and collected from out-of-state entities with a presence in Virginia.

Official Summary Text

Tax on electronic distribution of material harmful to minors.
Creates a tax at the rate of 10 percent of the gross receipts of any commercial entity operating an adult website, defined in the bill, for all sales, distributions, memberships, and other content amounting to material harmful to minors, defined in the bill, that is produced, sold, filmed, generated, or otherwise based in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that the revenues generated by this tax shall be deposited into the Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Trust Fund.

Current Bill Text

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 17 of Title 58.1 an article numbered 13, consisting of a section numbered
58.1-1749
, relating to tax on electronic distribution of material harmful to minors.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Chapter 17 of Title 58.1 an article numbered 13, consisting of a section numbered
58.1-1749
, as follows:

Article
13
.

Tax on
Material Harmful to Minors.

§
58.1-1749
. Tax on
electronic distribution of

m
aterial
h
armful to
m
inors
.

A. For the purposes of this section:

"Adult website" means a website, application, or digital or virtual platform that uses the
i
nternet to facilitate the dissemination of pictures, videos, or other content, a substantial portion of which is
material harmful to minors.

"Material harmful to minors" means the same as that term is defined in §
8.01-40.5
.

"Subs
tantial portion" means the same as that term is defined in §
8.01-40.5
.

B.
In addition to all other taxes now imposed by law,
there is hereby imposed a tax at the rate of 10 percent
of the gross receipts of any commercial entity operating an adult website for all sales, distributions, memberships, subscriptions, performances, and other content amounting to material harmful to minors
that is produced, sold, filmed, generated, or otherwise based in th
e Commonwealth
.

C. The revenues generated by the tax imposed under this
article
shall be deposited into the
Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Trust Fund establish
ed under §
37.2-318
.

D.
The Department shall collect, administer, and enforce this tax in the same manner that it collects, administers, and enforces the retail sales and use tax under Chapter 6 (§

58.1-600

et seq.), mutatis mutandis.

E
. The Tax Commissioner shall develop and make publicly available guidelines implementing the provisions of this article. Such guidelines shall be exempt from the provisions of the Administrative Process Act (§
2.2-4000
et seq.).

2. That if any provision of the first enactment of this act is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall not be deemed severable.