The current federal moratorium on Internet access taxes stand to be extended permanently, if legislation said to have hit the Congressional fast track yesterday gets all the way to President Bush's signature.
The House Judiciary Committee approved the so-called Internet Non-Discrimination Act by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-California), which he called permanent assurance "that Americans (will be) free from new taxes on their e-mail and Internet access. New taxes discriminating against Internet users would be unfair to our economy and our society."
In addition, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans and Treasury Secretary John Snow applauded the moves on the moratorium and on the Cox bill, an indicator that a permanent Net tax ban has support from the Bush Administration.
"The Internet is an innovative force that opens vast potential economic and social benefits of e-commerce, and enables such applications as distance learning, telemedicine, e-business, e-government, and precision farming," Evans and Snow said in a joint statement released to the press. "Government must not slow the rollout of Internet services by creating administrative barriers or imposing new access taxes, nor should government stifle e-commerce through multiple or discriminatory taxes."
The current moratorium was extended for two years in 2001 on a bill sponsored by Cox and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). Wyden said the incumbent moratorium, now five years old, has "a well-known track record" and there's no legitimate reason to stop it from becoming permanent. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) also said he would push for summer passage of a moratorium extension in the Senate.
"(T)here has not been a single case in which a state or locality has come forward with evidence showing damage caused by the inability to impose discriminatory or multiple taxes on the Internet," Wyden said in his own announcement.
