After a year's discourse, debate, and periodic controversies, the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce has handed its recommendation to Congress: Don't tax the Internet.
The commission made it a reasonably sweeping don't-do-it in the bargain. Not only did they say there should be no new e-commerce taxes imposed by local, state or the federal governments, they recommended that Congress repeal the existing 3 percent federal telephone excise tax. "I believe the ideas regarding tax cuts and tax reform reflected in this report will permit the people of the United States to realize all of the social and economic benefits of the Internet," said Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, who was the commission's most vocal elected official against Net taxes.
That opposition pitted Gilmore and one faction against another faction led by Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt, which strongly favored Net taxes as a way to level the playing field between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar commerce.
"It's a tremendous victory for taxpayers," said commission member Grover G. Norquist, a former advisor to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the longtime leader of Americans for Tax Reform, a nonprofit advocacy group. Norquist told Conservative News Service the commission has presented a "great opportunity" for tax cuts and reform.
