Lawmakers Move to Permanently Ban Internet Taxation

Federal lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation that would permanently ban taxes on Internet access and related services.

The legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat, and two other members of Congress would permanently ban taxes on Internet access, double taxation by two or more states of a product or service bought over the Web and discriminatory taxes that treat Internet purchases differently from other types of sales.

“This legislation will permanently end the unnecessary, burdensome taxes that limit choice and often require consumers to pay more for one high-speed Internet service over another,” said Walter McCormick, president and CEO of the United States Telecom Association, the Washington, D.C., group representing hundreds of local phone companies that typically offer DSL in competition with cable-modem service.

A law banning Internet taxation is set to expire in 2007. It does not affect the taxation of VoIP services or national telecommunications subsidies.

Sen. George Allen, a Virginia Republican, and Rep. Chris Cox, a California Republican, joined Wyden today at a press conference in Washington, D.C., to introduce the legislation.

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