The Internet tax
moratorium is set to expire on Wednesday, December 16, 2015. Instead of
Congress temporarily extending the moratorium as it has done several times in
the past two years, the Senate should pass the Permanent Internet Tax Forever Act,
which would permanently ban state and local taxes on Internet access. (See here, here, and here.) The House already
passed its version of the bill back in June 2015. (See my June 2015 blog for more.)
Michael Powell,
President and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association,
Meredith Attwell Baker, President and CEO of CTIA - The Wireless Association,
and Walter B. McCormick Jr., President and CEO of U.S. Telecom Association, sent
a coalition letter to members of the
Senate, urging them to support a permanent extension on the Internet Tax
Freedom Act. The letter also discusses the important bipartisan history of this
issue:
Over the nearly 17 years since ITFA was enacted, the
Internet has become an engine for economic growth, opportunity, and inclusion
while American consumers have been shielded from having their broadband access
subject to the myriad of discriminatory taxes and fees that apply to
traditional telecommunications services, often at rates twice that of general
sales taxes—11.5% on average but as high as 17% in some places. Because of this
bipartisan policy achievement, most Americans have never paid these taxes on
their broadband access.
This success – begun during the Clinton
Administration, and continued through the Bush Administration and thus far
through the Obama Administration – is at risk because ITFA will expire this
year unless Congress acts. Expiration would likely increase the cost of
broadband access as it would become vulnerable to new onerous telecommunication
taxes and fees, an imminent threat due to the Federal Communications
Commission’s recent reclassification of broadband services as a Title II
telecommunications service. At a time when promoting broadband adoption is a
national priority, Congress should ensure that every American can afford to
participate in the digital economy by making the expiring ban on Internet
access taxation permanent.
As stated in the
letter by these industry leaders, permanently banning taxes on Internet access
would help keep the Internet affordable for all Americans and would lead to
additional market-driven innovation, content choices, and economic
growth.
The Senate should
act immediately to adopt the permanent ban on state and local taxes for
Internet access!
Posts
