President
Bush Expresses Support for Extension of Internet Tax Moratorium
The Bush administration
recently expressed its support for extending the moratorium on Internet
taxation. During a press briefing at the White House, Bush spokesperson
Ari Fleischer reiterated the President's campaign pledge to support
an extension, and added that the president favors a permanent ban
on all Internet access taxes.
The White House's
comments come at a time when the debate on Internet taxation is
about to heat up in Congress. With the current moratorium set to
expire in October, several bills have been introduced on the issue.
However, members of Congress, especially in the deadlocked Senate,
have failed to reach any agreement on how to proceed.
The two competing
measures that appear to have the most momentum in the Senate are
sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Senator Byron Dorgan
(D-North Dakota). Both proposals include language that seeks uniformity
and simplification of state and local tax codes, which will make
it easier for the states to collect sales taxes on online purchases
from out-of-state merchants made by their citizens.
However, other
lawmakers feel the "simplification" issue should be dealt
with separately from the moratorium. Recently, Senator George Allen
(R-Virginia) introduced a bill (S. 777) that makes permanent the
moratorium. In the House, Representative Christopher Cox (R-California)
introduced two bills. One mirrors the Allen bill and the other calls
for a five-year extension on the moratorium. All three of these
measures do not include the "simplification" language
in the Wyden and Dorgan bills.
The Center recently
sent a letter
of support to Senator Allen and the three co-sponsors
of S. 777, as we believe Congress should move to pass a clean and
permanent moratorium free from encumbering attempts to assist
states in the collection of state sales taxes. Paying sales taxes
on purchases made online is currently the law. The states
failure to come up with a mechanism to collect such taxes should
not compel Congress to assist them.
Links
to Bills
S.
288 Sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon)
S.
512 Sponsored by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota)
S.
777
Sponsored by Senator George Allen (R-Virginia)
H.R.
1675 Sponsored by Representative Christopher Cox
(R-California)
H.R.
1552 Sponsored by Representative Christopher Cox
(R-California)
Return
to Internet Index
Return
to Internet Taxation Index
|