On January 19, 2016,
Steve Pociask, President of the American Consumer Institute, published a Forbes
article entitled “Keep
The Internet Tax-Free.” Mr. Pociask says that the proposed provisions included
in H.R. 644, which would permanently ban Internet access taxes, should be
supported for a couple of reasons. He states that taxes on Internet
access would reduce revenues for Internet service providers (ISPs) and would
increase the price consumers pay for Internet access. Mr. Pociask states that such
revenue losses would stifle investment and lead to fewer jobs created in the
information economy because ISPs would not be able to cover their fixed costs. He
also says that an increase in the price of Internet access would discourage prospective consumers from adopting Internet access and discourage current consumers from expanding their use of Internet-based services, ultimately leading to less tax revenue, not
more.
The Internet has
brought wonderful benefits to consumers over the past 20 years, but
artificially increasing the price of Internet access (through federal, state,
or local taxes) would certainly harm innovation and investment and diminish
consumer benefits. It is time that Congress permanently ban Internet access
taxes.
Read Mr. Pociask’s
article here.
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