IP: INTERNET TRANSACTION TAX URGED (make the consuler pay not

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

INTERNET TRANSACTION TAX URGED -- edupage
Acting to stem the tide toward broad taxation of Internet-based activities,
the Interactive Services Association has called for state and local taxation
entities to target online purchasers rather than the entire information
technology industry.  "The industry believes that the only type of tax that
can be applied effectively to Internet and online transactions will be a
transaction tax that is imposed upon the purchaser, not upon the industry,"
says the executive summary of a soon-to-be-released ISA white paper on the
topic.  The paper also urges one uniform tax rate within each state:  "The
greatest threat to the type of tax system contemplated here is any
requirement that a remote seller have to account for a multiplicity of taxes
at lower levels of government."  ISA warns that "relieving the industry of
such a requirement is the key to obtaining the industry's cooperation" in
collecting such taxes, and suggests that states move slowly in developing
their tax policies for the online industry.  "A deliberate and cooperative
approach will avoid the dangers that lurk in precipitate and uninformed
action on the part of the states."  (BNA Daily Report for Executives 8 Nov
96 H3)