Internet_Taxes

Internet Taxes Should The Internet Be Taxed The electronic superhighway is becoming an ever more important forum for commerce, and states want a piece of the action. But just as American colonists resisted British attempts to tax paper and tea, American citizens should bar states from taxing online transactions. There may be a time when it makes sense to tax Internet-specific transactions, but not now. Congress and state governments should not burden this infant technology. The state's congressional delegation should support the Internet Tax Freedom Act, a House bill that includes a moratorium on new state and local Internet taxes, but allows collection of current sales or use taxes. President Clinton endorsed most features of the act. The goal of the moratorium is to give Congress, states and other interested parties time to create an Internet tax policy. Congress should require that this task be completed in no more than two years, not the six or more years set by the bill. In 1998, retailers sold nearly $8 billion goods and services to consumers over the Internet, or on-line, while business to business online commerce was valued at an estimated $17 billion. Business weekly magazine (June 22, 1998) predicted that internet, tax, taxes, sales, states, should, moratorium, businesses, time, state, impose, commerce, years, revenue, government, congress, transactions, sold, pay, new, municipalities, goods, give, business, billion, wyden, while, street, services, says, say, retailers, policy, out, online, members