Does online affiliate marketing create a taxable nexus?  Are MMORPG currency swaps taxable realization events?  Is downloadable software an item of taxable property for sales tax purposes?  I see these questions with increasing regularity and the answers are rarely consistent.

So I love it when somebody makes my job easier.

Enter KPMG’s new online “Country Perspectives on Taxing the Cloud” tool.  The online resource describes how 18 different countries are approaching the taxability of cloud-based transactions.

Any company shifting to a new cloud-based business model will want to examine how its local country treats the character and source of the cloud income and whether the cloud operations create new income, withholding or indirect taxes.

The tool provides a great launching pad for users and cloud providers who are looking to virtually cross borders into a new market.   It also describes how to best approach local incentives when situating physical servers and other infrastructure items.

KPMG expects to add more countries in the coming months.

Thanks for making me look smart, guys.  Keep it up!