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Check out the v.256 - The Dark Ride: Limbo Patch Notes
here!
http://maplestory.nexon.net/news/52936/addition-of-sales-tax-when-purchasing-nx-us-canada
In case you haven't already read this lovely notice, Nexon NA is now suddenly legally required to add sales tax to NX bought from the website, and Karma cards redeemed on their website. Now I'm not going to act like I'm in any way an expert in this subject. So what I'm going to do is ask for a few answers, and perhaps a suggestion or two.
1. Why is Nexon suddenly "legally required" to add sales tax when this hasn't been an issue for the entire duration of the game to this point? I assume there's reasoning, so I think a lot of people would appreciate the explanation as to what caused this to happen. I am not going to campaign for this this change to be removed (seeing as if it's really legally required, there's nothing anyone can do), but I do want some form of explanation.
2. More of a suggestion, (but since this's for a general discussion of the subject I'm just gonna post this in general chat), I'd recommend applying the sales tax on the purchase of the card itself, and not upon redeeming the code. As it stands right now, nx conversion from karma cards are all over the place, it's inconsistent, and it's not clear how much nx one will be receiving. Again, if there are measures into place from preventing this inconsistency, or at least informing the player/buyer, I'm sure again, a lot of people would appreciate that knowledge.
This is not something that should be thrown casually into the player's face. This is a matter that should be given more attention and a lot more transparency. Again, I am not campaigning for this to be changed. I just don't want this to be swept under a rug.
Comments
even still, this whole tax thing is stupid. you're telling me now when i buy a 100k NX KK card i'm only going to get 94k NX from it? what if i say im from a state / country with little to no sales tax? then i can get more nx for my money? this just makes people want to commit fraud now for more nx its stupid.
if Nexon was a good company, they'd figure out a way to compensate for the new sales tax, considering we never had it before. we were all used to getting 100k nx for $100 but that's suddenly going to change. the easiest thing to do would be to charge tax based on California's rate, then lower everything by whatever the tax in California is that way even if we don't get 100k nx for $100 anymore, it still feels the same. Alternatively, they could maybe give "bonus nx" based on the tax you get charged to make up for the lost NX on the tax.
Another thing i find to be stupid though, is charging tax for something already bought. You're telling me, i can buy a KK card with no tax ($25 = 25k) then you guys are charging me tax for that? unbelievable...
These are just my thoughts tho. personally i hate the idea of this new sales tax, it means i get less NX for my money and honestly just makes me want to spend less on this game knowing I'm not getting the same amount of NX anymore. what especially irritates me though is the inconstancy; my state gets charged 6%, other states get charged more, other states get charged less, or even no sales tax. some countries have no sales tax, and then you have places like Canada that get charged like 12% ON TOP OF the conversion rate.
Because the law changed, most likely. Tax laws especially constantly shift around as states and governments need money.
Even if that ends up being the case, I still wish they would be more clear. All it would take would be, "Due to a change in tax laws", or something simple like that would be able to shed more light on the subject. Nexon has a bad history of poor wording when it comes to their web posts, I just want more clarification on something as large a change as this is.
So essentially you could end up being double taxed depending on your circumstance.
Of course, on the other hand I understand that getting into tax trouble is not what Nexon wants to deal with.
Many online vendors have added a form of tax to their services so Nexon was coming eventually.
So, this is a new law (or rather, new interpretation of existing laws). Your state wants X number of cents out of every dollar you spend, regardless of whether you're buying from a local or out-of-state business. So, Nexon America is legally required to send your state those X cents out of every dollar you give them.
I don't really understand the taxing of Karma Koin, since you do not give Nexon any money when charging Karma Koin to your account. You give it to a seller when you buy the Karma Koin, whether it is a physical store (like CVS) or an online store (like PCGameSupply). Those stores are the ones who should be charging the tax and passing it on to the states.
Also, while Nexon is legally obligated to give your state part of the money you pay Nexon, they are at liberty to credit whatever number of NX they want to your account. They could, if they wanted, still credit you with 1,000NX per US dollar spent, even if they don't get to keep the entire dollar to themselves.
I won't pretend to understand US tax laws but shouldn't the sales tax be added to the price of KarmaKoin cards at the retailers in the affected states/countries (like it apparently already is in some cases), and not be deducted from the virtual currency provided?
From what I understand, as a European you will not be taxed (unless your country requires its own sales tax).
As for the Karma Koin question (which I also asked, with other wording, upthread):
Apparently, in the USA, gift cards in general are not taxed when they are sold, but what you buy with them is.
https://www.ricksdailytips.com/no-sales-tax-on-gift-cards/
So, for example, if a state has a 10% sales tax, you will still only pay $10 to buy a $10 card, without an additional $1 tax. However, when you want to use that card to buy an actual item at a store, you'll only be able to buy an item that costs $9, because the tax will be added at the checkout. This is the same thing that would happen if you had a $10 bill in your hand, rather than the $10 card. (In the USA, stores always list/display prices before tax.)
With Karma Koin, the "item at the store" that you are buying, is NX. Imagine NX as candy that you buy in bulk, $1 per kilogram. Your $10 gift card can only buy about $9 worth of candy - 9091 gm to be exact - because tax is added on top of the listed price at checkout.
this is ridiculous, time to throw the the cards in the harbor and start a revolution
Yes, they should be telling users exactly what laws they are complying with, if anything has changed.
If a random guy stopped you on the street and said for "legal reasons" he has to check your belongings, do you just assume he's right?
Retailers should not be taxing gift cards in canada/US. If you buy a $50 card, it should cost $50 to buy the card.
Again, that's just the way things are done in the USA
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2014/0826/Gift-cards-and-sales-tax-How-not-to-get-duped
our taxes are not paid in NX
So technically the tax, if applicable, should only be applied the moment an item is purchased from the cash shop, when goods are actually exchanged for the currency.
You could argue that In the end you end up losing the same amount of money in tax, so I understand it's probably *easier* to calculate tax when purchasing NX, I'm just pointing out that technically this doesn't seem to be the correct way to do it, as its still technically a gift card, just because its for a specific retailer doesn't mean its not a gift card.
Could it not be classified as an item that is used to exchange with other items? Technically everything can be considered currency.
Hey now, quite the over reaction there. It should not be my responsibility to be informed of the entire process that led to this decision. Yes, they mentioned legal reasons, except if you think about it for a second longer, "legal reasons" could mean any number of thing. It should fall on the company to inform their customers of change, and reasons behind changes. I have said it repeatedly, I am only asking for this situation to be made as clear as possible. If you have an issue with that, deal with it. This is something that affects maplers heavily, and I'm treating it as such. About 95% of that web post was explaining what was happening, not why it was happening. And I would love to hear their reasoning for their strange methods of taxing the Karma cards. As Kradian said, the exchange of money is happening when you buy the karma card, not when you redeem the code.
If I buy a Karma Koin card, the tax should be charged at the point of sale just like any other purchase, not upon redemption on the Nexon website.
I think I've finally found the reason to no longer purchase NX or KK cards.
Rather Nexon should simply re-evaluate the value of NX with respect to the tender used, award the same NX, and pay the taxes as normal. (meaning items in the cash shop might cost 100 more NX per 1k nx or something, depending on where you live, but you get the exact amount of NX listed on the card)
Hopefully that makes sense.