Saying that they could turn the Internet into "a new web of government intrusion on personal liberty," the Washington Times has endorsed federal legislation to put a permanent moratorium on Internet taxes.
"Those interested in liberty and economic prosperity should support this bill," says the paper of the bill by Republican Congressmen John Kasich and John Tanner.
The editorial attacked a plan to push taxes on Internet transactions as "hopelessly complex" for two reasons: Net sales rarely staying within a single jurisdiction, and "governments hav(ing) little trust in anyone but themselves when it comes to collecting taxes." The plan is said to call for a "trusted third party" to collect the taxes.
And it means, the Times warns, a "mammoth" new government database which any and all local governments can get into, with personal information on shopping habits.
"It is perhaps inevitable that whenever money changes hands, politicians will want a share of it, which is why they are now at the cyber gates demanding to be let in," the editorial continues. "The big spenders clearly recognize how eager Americans are to avoid paying what they consider excess taxes, and they fear a tax-free Internet will shut off a large section of their revenue purse -- some estimates say current revenue lost is about $170 million or 1 percent of sales-tax revenue nationwide."
Some supporters of Internet sales taxes suggest it's unfair to make neighborhood stores sell higher than online prices because of taxes, but the Times says that's "akin to saying someone should break his left arm because the right one is in a sling."
