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Ban on Internet Taxes to Expire

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pound-of-flesh dept.

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.

3 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. One sure thing by antis0c · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you want to kill whats left of "dot coms" and online commerce, begin taxing it nationwide. I usually can find certain things online cheaper than in a store even with shipping figured in, however if you add tax it's going to be nearly the same, or more. So it'll just be worth going and getting it and having it "now", so yeah, they need to get their act together and instate the extension.

    --

    ..There's a-dooin's a-transpirin'
  2. Not now, but... by JanneM · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A bad idea right now to be sure, but for the long haul, having exemptions for net trading is maybe not such a good idea. It does penalize local merchants, and gives rise to a whole lot of unnecessary transports. Some framework is needed so that local governments can decide on this without creating scewed markets (just deciding whether taxes should be paid at the salesman's or customer's jurisdiction would go a long way).

    OK, I'm ready to get flamed...

    /Janne

    --
    Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  3. The House matters a lot here... Don't worry by fosh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Although we bash the house a lot, it is quite significant here. In terms of Federal taxes, what the house says goes. After all, all tax bills must originate in the house, so if the Federal government was planning on taxing the internet, we needn't worry. "All bills raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representives..." (Article I, section 7)

    If people are worried about State Taxes, which could theoretically be passed if no Federal law prohibits them, they should also relax. As you know, states can only tax intra-state commerce. THey can't tax anythinhg at the comes in at thier borders under any circumstances. So, very few internet transactions are at risk here. Also, considering it would probably be difficult to argue that anything you do over the internet is entirely within one state. (Did you use a router in another state?)

    FInally, in the current economic climate, I can't imagine any government would ever want to pass a law discouraging commerce.



    I don't thing we have to worry about this,
    --Alex Fishman