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California Considering More Internet Taxes

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the got-to-pay-off-the-thieving-energy-companies dept.

dcg writes "San Francisco Chronicle is reporting on how web taxes could help the states, especially California, with its budget woes. One particularly disconcerting comment is from California's Controller Steve Westly. 'In addition to sales taxes, Westly said he is considering a tax on Internet access like those that appear on telephone bills. He also is looking at a tax on software downloads.' Would this affect only purchased software, or could sourceforge.net become a source of revenue for the state..."

1 of 475 comments (clear)

  1. way to kill online commerce by jbwiv · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Yes....let's tax an already struggling marketplace in its relative infancy. Makes a lot of sense. That should do away with it pretty quickly.

    One of the main reasons non-techie folks are tempted to shop online is the lack of taxes. If this move was inevitable, I'd have preferred to see it years down the line, when e-commerce had matured somewhat.

    And a tax on internet access is ridiculous...downloads, just plain silly.

    Oh well...if that happens, I'm off to the underground....feeling perfectly justified in stealing tax-free access >:/