Internet tax morotorium is about to end
CB
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷDer Millionendorf- Icrontian
As anyone who follows internet rights discussions knows, the federally mandated restriction on the taxation of internet use by local governments expires in November if nothing is done to extend it.
Thursday, The Senate Commerce Committee canceled the vote without explanation. When asked why the vote was canceled, the committee chairman, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), laughed at the situation.
The proposed bill, which was originally scheduled to be voted on at 2:30pm on Thursday September 27th, would have extended the moratorium by four years, giving the legislators more time to determine a permanent solution.
The temporary moratorium was put into place years ago to stop local governments from taxing internet users. The fear was that it would stifle the growth of an emerging technology. Now, of course, there is no fear of stifling the internet, but some legislators still fear that local governments would take advantage of internet consumers if given free rein to tax it's use.
Thursday, The Senate Commerce Committee canceled the vote without explanation. When asked why the vote was canceled, the committee chairman, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), laughed at the situation.
The proposed bill, which was originally scheduled to be voted on at 2:30pm on Thursday September 27th, would have extended the moratorium by four years, giving the legislators more time to determine a permanent solution.
The temporary moratorium was put into place years ago to stop local governments from taxing internet users. The fear was that it would stifle the growth of an emerging technology. Now, of course, there is no fear of stifling the internet, but some legislators still fear that local governments would take advantage of internet consumers if given free rein to tax it's use.
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Ex. Newegg has good prices, but if taxed, I can go down and get it at Fry's Electronics today without paying for shipping. There's also the additional bene of being able to put my hands on the product and possibly try it out at Fry's.
My gut is- except for things like E-bay, on-line shopping could go the way of the mail-order catalog- thanks to your local congressman.
This is a restriction on the taxation of the use of the internet in general.
You know how your land-line telephone bill has about $8 in taxes on it (depending on where you live)? Right now, they're not allowed to do that to your internet bill. In November, if nothing is done, they will be able to.
Ah, thanks for clearing that up- I thought it was related. Oops.
Yeah. I don't know how we're going to stop this one.
Still- rest assured that your elected government is working hard to find more innovative ways to part you from some $.
Quoted for truth, Leo. That whole nest of vipers in Washington DC needs to be cleaned out because they are all part of the problem. And our state governments are just as bad.
Look at the things they do tax:
Telephone (they control the FCC)
Electricity (Government sponsored monopoly)
Oil (YAY! They control the supply to a great extent)
Internet... I mean, what do they do besides control the telecoms already? Isn't this double dipping?