In Philadelphia, bloggers have been sent letters from the government informing them that they need to pay $300 for a business licence, plus a percentage of any profits and taxes, according to a story in the Washington Examiner.

There are millions of bloggers across the world, and many of them use advertising like adwords to recoup a tiny amount of residual income, typically, the income from the adverts just about covers the hosting fees of £5 per month. In some cases, professional bloggers get paid by newspapers or online media companies to continue their activities, and in these situations, there is a case to say that they are effectively self employed and should be included for tax purposes. In most cases though, it is not a business venture.

As yet, there are no indications from the current UK government that they will start to count small online earnings as a source of taxable income. There are a number of people who top up their modest income by trading online in Ebay, or through other small scale financial activity, however with cutbacks and the coalition desperate to claw back the deficit by using tax rises and service cuts, it would be no surprise if such an 'initiative' were announced.