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Pennsylvania lawmakers want to slap a 10 percent tax on porn.
The proposal targets “subscriptions to and one-time purchases from online adult content platforms.” Add that to the state’s existing 6 percent sales tax, and you get what the Free Speech Coalition’s Mike Stabile called the “tiddy tariff.” It’s a catchy name for something that sounds like a moral statement wrapped in a fiscal policy.
Here’s the strange thing — almost nobody pays for porn anymore. The internet made sure of that. So taxing paid porn feels like setting up a toll booth on an abandoned road. You can’t collect money from traffic that’s already gone.
And if this plan actually discourages people from paying for porn, it could end up doing the opposite of what lawmakers claim to want. Paying for porn isn’t just about access — it’s about ethics. When viewers pay creators or production companies, they’re supporting people who work legally and consensually. They’re also helping make sure performers are paid and protected.
Platforms that allow direct payments to performers give sex workers something rare in this business — control. They decide what to shoot, how to do it, and where it goes. Reputable studios verify age and consent. All that takes structure and funding. Make it harder to earn money from ethical content, and you push people toward the shady, unregulated side of the web.
The bill comes from state senators Marty Flynn (D–Scranton) and Joe Picozzi (R–Philadelphia). “In the near future, we will be introducing legislation to impose an additional 10% tax on subscriptions to and one-time purchases from online adult content platforms,” they wrote in an October 15 memo. “This tax will be applied in addition to the Commonwealth’s existing 6% sales and use tax, ensuring that Pennsylvania captures revenue from this rapidly growing sector of the digital economy.”
What’s unclear is who would actually pay. Would it hit consumers directly, or the platforms and creators? Either way, the pain rolls downhill. Platforms pass costs to users. Users buy less. Creators — often independent and working without safety nets — earn less.
The money would go into the state’s general fund, supposedly to make these “platforms contribute their fair share.” That line always makes me raise an eyebrow. “Fair share” of what?
Maybe Flynn and Picozzi imagine this hitting only the big companies — the nameless giants raking in cash. But that’s not how the modern porn economy works. Much of it now comes from small creators: individuals or couples filming at home, uploading content, building communities, and surviving off direct sales. They’re entrepreneurs, not conglomerates.
So while the state gets a symbolic win and a few extra dollars, the people who actually make the content — the ones they’re claiming to regulate — will take the hit.
Taxing porn isn’t just about numbers. It’s about how we treat speech and labor we find uncomfortable. And no matter how you spin it, this tax looks less like fairness and more like judgment dressed up as revenue.
