"S.B. 660 is about providing more economic development opportunities for Oregon." - Russ Walker

Letters to the Editor Repeal excise tax on telecommunications 02/10/2001

Click here to sign CSE's No Internet Tax Petition Ten years ago, discount retailers like Wal-Mart were redefining the face of the American retail industry. Today, online retailers like Amazon.com are again redefining not only ways that businesses interact with their customers, but also how they interact with each other. Two years ago, Congress passed a three-year moratorium on new Internet taxes to help the fledgling market grow. In the interim, the battle to create an Internet tax plan has begun.

Erick R. Gustafson, director of Regulatory and Technology Policy, participated in the Telepower Conference in Hays, Kansas. Gustafson was invited by the conference’s sponsor, the Docking Institute, to debate Don Moler, the secretary to the executive director of the League of Kansas Municipalities, on the topic of Internet Taxation.

The Senate delivered welcome news to consumers yesterday when it passed a repeal of the 102-year old Federal Excise Tax on telecommunications. The repeal was contained in H.R. 4516, the appropriations bill for the Treasury Department, Legislative Branch, and General Government Services. The House already passed the bill; it now awaits final signature by the president.

September 18, 2000

Last month, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) released the results of a Wirthlin Worldwide survey on Americans’ viewpoints about Internet taxation. According to Wirthlin, “Americans support collecting existing state and local sales taxes on Internet purchases.” This should be no surprise because existing state and local sales taxes already apply to the Internet and electronic commerce.