Senator
Wyden added, “Putting new, unfair Internet taxes on the backs of
consumers is not the way to fix state and local budget troubles.”
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Legislation
Introduced to Extend Internet Tax Moratorium, PERMANENTLY!
On
January 7, the first day of the 108th Congress, Representative Christopher
Cox (R-CA) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced companion legislation
(The Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act) that, if passed, will make
permanent the Internet tax moratorium.
Representative
Cox and Senator Wyden authored the original moratorium passed by
Congress in 1998 which bans multiple and discriminatory taxes on
purchases made on the Internet and taxes levied at Internet access.
“Since 1998, when the Cox-Wyden bill first became law, we have had
ample time to evaluate the effects of the moratorium on Internet
taxes – on the growth of the online economy in general and e-commerce
in particular,” said Representative Cox. “Given the continued softness
of the tech economy, this is hardly the time for new taxes on the
Internet. Rather, providing long-term certainty about tax policy
is one of the necessary ingredients for a tech rebound.”
Senator
Wyden added, “Putting new, unfair Internet taxes on the backs of
consumers is not the way to fix state and local budget troubles.”
Ironically,
introduction of the Internet Tax Freedom Act comes after recent
reports that many of the nation’s governors, state legislators and
state tax collectors are putting the final touches on a plan to
shift their tax collection burden to out-of-state merchants, something
currently prohibited without Congress’ approval under the Supreme
Court’s Quill decision.
While
the controversial tax collection issue, euphemistically labeled
“simplification,”
is completely separate from the moratorium, efforts will again be
made to tie the two together. Such efforts were the primary reason
why the moratorium wasn’t made permanent in 2001 when Congress extended
it for two years.
[Posted
January 9, 2003]
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