NORFOLK, Va. — Your online subscriptions could get a little more expensive because of a proposed digital sales tax.
The list of streaming platforms just keeps growing: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, just to name a few
"We watch at least one streaming service daily," said Olivia Charles, a Regent University student.
As prices on those services go up, some people are trying to scale down.
"Broke college kids, the 12, 15 bucks a month takes a hit," she said.
Charles Brown II agrees. "We may have had at one point eight or nine that we were doing, but we’ve kind of scaled back to, like, five," he said. "Every dollar counts."
With Virginia’s new proposed budget, those prices could get even higher.
That budget is currently sitting on Governor Glenn Youngkin’s desk, and it lists a digital sales tax, or a "tech tax." That tax would tack on extra money to not only streaming services, but also cloud storage and online software, something Charles said she’s not a fan of.
"I think prices have shot up so much, it’s just another thing that we have to pay more for and it’s not in anybody’s budget," she said.
It’s something that originated in Youngkin’s proposed budget, along with tax cuts. The Democratic-controlled General Assembly kept the digital sales tax but removed Youngkin’s proposed cuts.
Budget documents from both chambers show the tax could generate more than $1 billion in revenue over the next two-year state budget. Virginia is one of only a handful of states that doesn’t already have a similar tax.
In a past interview, Democratic Senator Louise Lucas said the tax could be used to make up for any shortfalls.
"In order for us to pay for our priorities, we've got to have the money coming from somewhere to pay for them," she said.
But Brown said the tax could really hurt people's wallets in an already difficult time.
"This stuff is starting to add up all over the place. And there are a lot of people going through hard times right now so I think that kind of has to be factored in."
Brown's wife, Marquita Bianca Brown, said while that tax might hurt in the beginning, if it’s going back into the state in a useful way, it could be worthwhile.
"Why is it happening? Where is it going? Then we can kind of wrap our minds around, 'Okay so this may bite us in the beginning, but in the long run, it’s gonna make sense,'" she said.
The budget is currently on Governor Youngkin’s desk where he can propose amendments or line-item vetoes. The General Assembly will reconvene on April 17 to look at the changes.