Senate will debate Internet "access" taxes this week

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5101346.html

Are taxes on the way for Net access?
November 3, 2003, 11:05 AM PST
By Declan McCullagh

A federal moratorium on Internet access taxes expired over the weekend, 
leaving state governments free to levy new taxes on Americans' dial-up, 
wireless and broadband connections to the Net.

The U.S. Senate last week considered a proposal to broaden the ban and make 
it permanent. But state officials objected, arguing the proposed 
alterations to the moratorium could let voice over IP (VoIP) and telephone 
services, digital cable TV, and other converging technologies go untaxed 
and so cost state and local governments billions of dollars in lost revenue.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said last week that the debate on the 
bill, which has 11 cosponsors, would resume no earlier than Thursday. A 
representative for Frist said Monday that a date for the debate has not 
been set. The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Sept. 17 for a 
slightly different bill that also would make the moratorium permanent.

One highly contested phrase in the bill is stalling its progress in the 
Senate. The phrase says that states may no longer tax telecommunications 
services (such as those for telephones, cell phones and pagers) to the 
extent that "such services are used to provide Internet access."

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