Charlottesville, Virginia tried to impose a business license tax on freelance writers. At the same time, magazines and newspapers were exempt from the tax. In January 2021, the 16th Judicial Court of Virginia declared this treatment a violation of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law.

This isn’t the latest news, but it’s representative of how legislation often targets freelance authors. Sometimes, as in the “Pro Act” bill, it does it under the pretense of offering benefits.

California has claimed the power to tax freelance writers living outside the state for work performed outside the state for California customers. If you have any customers in California, the state may claim you owe it money.

Tax agencies like to go after people who can’t easily fight back. Freelancers often have little money to hire lawyers, and it’s easy to pick them off one at a time. Fortunately, as the Institute for Justice showed in the Charlottesville case, there are some limits.