Congress Pulls Together Proposal To Ban Internet Access Taxes Permanently, Likely To Become Law
Kate Cox | December 10, 2015
There never has been a tax on email or bandwidth use, for most of us, because Congress made it illegal to charge one more than 15 years ago. That law, though, was temporary and for the better part of two decades, has constantly needed to be extended or renewed. This year, Congress appears finally to be sick of doing that and has real plans to make it permanent, once and for all.
The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA; P.L. 105-277), enacted in 1998, implemented a three-year moratorium preventing state and local governments from taxing Internet access, or imposing multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. The act included a grandfather clause allowing state and local governments to continue taxing Internet access, provided the tax had been imposed and enforced before October 1, 1998. Under the moratorium, state and local governments cannot impose their sales tax on the monthly payments that consumers make to their Internet service provider in exchange for access to the Internet.
<more at http://consumerist.com/2015/12/10/congress-pulls-together-proposal-to-ban-internet-access-taxes-permanently-likely-to-become-law/; related links: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/263399-spending-bill-avoids-net-neutrality-extends-internet-tax-ban (Spending bill avoids net neutrality, extends Internet tax ban. December 16, 2015) and https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43772.pdf (The Internet Tax Freedom Act: In Brief. Congressional Research Service. October 5, 2015)>
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