At least the U.S. House of Representatives means business when they say, "Read our lips – no Net taxes." The House voted September 16 to make an ongoing moratorium on Internet use taxes permanent and to require nine states with existing Net access fees to repeal those fees.
By a voice vote, the House passed a bill to make permanent the Internet tax moratorium due to expire in November, following previous extensions of the original 1998 ban. The same bill would remove a grandfathering clause letting some states levy Internet taxes in place before the first moratorium.
The Supreme Court has already prohibited online sales taxes except where the retailer in question has "a substantial" presence in the state levying the taxes, according to Reuters.
The new bill was the brainchild of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-California), a longtime opponent of Internet taxation. He called the new bill the Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act, and praised colleagues on both sides of the aisle for passing it.
“Today, Republicans and Democrats have come together to say that no matter how we might choose to fund government services, we all agree that it would be counterproductive to create new taxes that target the Internet, which are harmful to consumers, destructive to technological innovation, and bad for our economy," Cox said after the vote, adding that the bill would apply to all manner of Internet access, moderate and high speed alike.
“Today, the great news that we share with all American consumers is that you will be fully protected from taxation no matter how you choose to access the Internet – dial-up, cable modem, DSL, satellite, wireless, or some pathway yet to be invented," he said. “The case for taxing Internet access has never been weaker. There’s no question that we all benefit from more and faster Internet connections, bringing us countless educational, commercial, and cultural opportunities."
Cox said new Internet taxation would make Net access less affordable and discourage broadband connection adoption. “In many areas, the difference between dial-up and broadband is ten dollars a month," he said. "If ten dollars a month is already a barrier for people to embrace broadband, adding an increment on top of that is only going to keep the digital divide wide open.”
President Bush extended the original Net tax moratorium before its scheduled 2001 expiration date, and has never backed away from his opposition to new Internet taxes.
