The state Senate is considering putting a substantial tax on the sale of pornographic materials. But the bill is prompting questions about how the tax would work.
The bill is designed to address human trafficking issues, and it's scheduled to get its first committee vote Wednesday.
The bill would create a 50% tax on the sale of what it calls "prurient materials." That would include anything considered "obscene" or harmful to minors.
Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, questioned who'd decide what's obscene — from R-rated TV shows on streaming services to pornographic website subscriptions.
The bill would put the Department of Revenue in charge of the tax, and the bill summary says it would be "required to issue revenue stamps to affix to prurient material to indicate that the tax has been paid." It's unclear how that stamp process would work for online materials as opposed to, for example, printed media like a copy of Playboy magazine.
"I'm perfectly fine with the excise tax," Batch said. "I think what's problematic is the implementation and allowing one person at Revenue to do it without giving any resources to Revenue."
"Are we doing an excise tax to everything on Only Fans, or are we letting the Revenue Department pick and choose what they determine are sellers of information in the digital age or in print?" she added.
Republicans sponsoring the bills didn't have specific answers to Batch's questions, referring some to legislative staff.
"I think it would be only those things which would be considered prurient or obscene, or that would be patently harmful to minors," said Sen. Ted Alexander, R-Cleveland and the bill's sponsor. "It would not include everything that they would have on there — that's my impression. It would be specifically geared toward those kinds of things. If it would be magazines or whatever they have, that would be easier to identify, because you'd have something specific to look at."
Revenue from the tax would fund programs like the Human Trafficking Commission and the Domestic Violence Center Fund.
Also on Wednesday's agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee: Legislation to ban kids under age 14 from using social media sites. During Tuesday's discussion about that bill, Batch suggested that the age limit should be higher, and the bill's sponsor said he would "be open to that."
