DN Editorial: Hobby lobby wins

TWO WORDS guaranteed to go viral: Blogger Tax.

Last year, an uproar over the city's attempt to get bloggers to apply for a business-

privilege license so that the nickels and dimes that some were making off their blogging enterprise could get taxed. This uproar helped create the "blogger tax" handle, although it was a misnomer then and it still is.

The fee the city was trying to collect applies to all businesses, no matter how much money they make. The city also wanted to collect a tax on any revenues collected.

Now, Councilman Bill Green has proposed an amendment that would clear up some of the confusion. His amendment would identify and exclude hobbies from the business category, and so exempt them from licenses and taxes. It outlines conditions for determining whether someone's blog, or knitting, or other passion is an endeavor that should be classified as a business, or a hobby. Tip: If you claim expenses related to your "hobby" on your federal tax form as a business deduction, the city is going to consider you a business.

The guidelines make sense, and should begin mending our blog-driven reputation for being greedy and uncool. *