Friday, October 19, 2007

Road Block on the Internet Superhighway

WASHINGTON -- With the November 1st expiration date of the Internet Tax Freedom Act quickly approaching, the Senate was poised to vote on a permanent extension of the ban on Internet taxation Thursday night. However, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) voiced objection to S. 2128, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, effectively halting the vote. The Senate consideration of S. 2128 follows the Tuesday passage in the House of a temporary extension of the current moratorium.

While the senator stated that her objection was on behalf of Senator
Tom Carper (D-DE), she helped to thwart a similar bill in 2003.

"Yesterday Senator Landrieu took a stand against taxpayers, innovation
and economic growth by blocking a vote on the Permanent Internet Tax
Freedom Act," said taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist, president of
Americans for Tax Reform. "With broad support for permanently banning
Internet taxes, Landrieu's efforts to stand in the way of S. 2128 are
surprising -- especially after her constituents relied heavily on Internet
communication following Hurricane Katrina."

The House extension, which passed with a vote of 405 to 2, does not
make the current moratorium permanent, despite broad support for a
permanent ban on taxing Internet access. Rep. Anne Eshoo's (D-CA) permanent
bill, which has 238 cosponsors, was not considered on the floor, nor were
amendments allowed under the rules for the vote. In addition to the
temporary extension of the tax prohibition, HR 3678 also extends the
grandfather provisions for the handful of states that had taxed the
Internet prior to 1998 and exempts states that collect gross receipts
taxes.

"The House's temporary extension is a good step toward a permanent
ban," continued Norquist. "As the Senate moves forward, I urge senators to
support at least the temporary extension, as well as the permanent ban on
Internet access taxes."

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers
and taxpayer groups who oppose all federal, state and local tax increases.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact John Kartch
at (202) 785-0266 or at jkartch@atr.org.


SOURCE Americans for Tax Reform

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