Internet Tax?

[tefen]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070921-as-deadline-looms-senate-still-debating-fate-of-internet-tax-moratorium.html

Apparently a ban on internet service provider (ISP) taxes is set to expire on November 1st of this year. Congress has two competing bills to extend the ban, one extends it for four years, the other makes it permanent. If neither passes by November 1st, prices for internet service nationwide could jump 17% according to ISPs.

If the moratorium is lifted, here's another avenue for Vancouver to gain more tax dollars.

[Chief]

This has been bated around for at least a decade, and there still is no consensus on how to properly administer this. Who is responsible for collecting and remitting all of those taxes for the fifty States??

Are we really talking about requiring every single internet business in the nation become overnight experts on every Sales Tax in the Country??

How do you apportion those taxes out to the communities once they are remitted??

Does a citizen of Pennsylvania become responsible for enforcing Washington's Sales Tax law??

There are still serious unanswered questions about just how you would go about implementing this, who is going to administer it, how you pay for it, fraud prevention, and collections enforcement.

[tefen]

This particular one isn't a sales tax, Chief. (Sorry if I muddied the water by putting it in the Sales Tax forum), it's more of a communication tax. Basically your ISP (say Comcast, Qwest or Pacifier) charges you an extra $2 for your internet access within the city of Vancouver and passes the money on to the city.



With regard to the sales tax you were were mentioning, the last I heard was the possibility of states joining together to enforce a single "online tax rate" across borders.

[karma]

Ya know, it will be time to turn off the computers if this moves forward. What would they do if the Citizens of this Country sent them a silent message for a week and no one use their computers??? I could do it easy, how about you?

[Chief]

OIC...that's a bit different....

Why should I pay an internet tax to anyone if I have a satellite ISP, I own 100% of the equipment used to operate it, and require exactly zero infrastructure or participation of the City of Vancouver?

[Chief]

http://www.economicsbriefing.com/2007/09/paulson-and-gutierrez-call-for.html

WASHINGTON, DC--U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez issued a statement today calling for the Senate to make permanent the moratorium on Internet access taxes and on multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. The Senate Commerce Committee will mark up S. 1453, the Internet Tax Freedom Extension Act of 2007, on Thursday.

"The Internet is an innovative force that opens up the vast potential economic and social benefits of electronic commerce. Preventing the taxation of Internet access will help sustain an environment for innovation, ensure that consumers continue to have affordable access to the Internet, especially high-speed Internet, and strengthen the foundations of electronic commerce as a vital and growing part of our economy.

"Congress has an opportunity to demonstrate bipartisan leadership by passing essential legislation before the current moratorium expires on November 1 of this year. We urge the Congress to expedite passage of a permanent extension so that President Bush can sign it into law before the current moratorium expires," Paulson and Gutierrez said in their statement.

Jack Weil reporting for EconomicsBriefing.com.

**SCHNIPP**

Make it so, Numbah One...

[Waterbuffalo]

This one should not even be a debate..

[Waterbuffalo]

If any one wants to know about the sales tax remittance onlien subject, read my thread I posted a month or so ago here.. its the one right after this thread..

Added: Sorry it was not me, it was Chief that posted it..maybe I posted it in another forum.. But this is one about the sales tax remittance thing and washington state..

look here: http://clarkblog.org/index.php/topic,1694.0.html