Ban on Internet Taxes to Expire

slacknet writes: "Well, it looks like the government could be lifting the ban on taxes related to the Internet, CNN reports here. While the House of Representatives has already passed a two-year extension on the ban, the Senate has not. Newsbytes.com also has an article on this matter here. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this probably isn't the best time economically to be discussing any sort of additional taxes." I think Newsbytes has it right - the federal ban is likely to be reinstated soon, they just didn't get around to it this week.

Comments

Background Info

[m_evanchik]

Nolo.com has a nice short primer on Internet taxation issues, with plenty of additional links for more breadth.

As this NYT article suggests, the taxation ban expiring will have little effect in the short to medium term, as the ban itself was really very limited in scope, and no local politician wants to increase taxes, especially to affluent voters who would be primarily affected.

They want to tax Internet based sales

[darnellmc]

The Senate did not pass the extention because they want to setup a method to tax internet based sales while still banning internet access taxes.

They are changing the rules because many states want a cut of the money that the few successful on-line businesses make.

If on-line businesses must pay sales tax on every sale, then mail-order companies should have to do the same. But I agree that there should be no new internet taxes of any kind. No taxes on sales or Internet access. It is too soon.

Contact your congressperson at Congress.org or via the site of your choice.