Come Friday midnight, e-mail taxes could become real. Or businesses could
get a
bigger tax break. Or things could stay the same. And you can influence the outcome.
If nothing is done in Congress by Friday midnight, the 1998 Internet Tax Freedom
Act expires and the Internet becomes fair game for the feds, states, counties,
cities and just about any other taxing authority know to man.
Here's how the Wall Street Journal, friend of business, talks about the situation:
"You will double-up the price of plain old Internet access faster than
a dog can jump on a meat wagon," predicted Senator Wyden last week. But
that's just the beginning. With no law to stop them, state and local officials
can start taxing everything from spam filters to instant messages to Google
searches. E-mail taxes alone would be a gold mine for free-spending politicians
across the country. At a Senate hearing on spam in May, Minnesota Democrat
Mark Dayton suggested "looking at some very, very small charge for
every e-mail sent."He's not alone. States and cities love the idea, and not just because of
the potential for taxing, say, cross-country e-mails. Governors, mayors
and county
officials are thinking locally, too. A message sent by you to your neighbor
per next Saturday's barbecue might easily pass through computer servers
located in several of the nation's 7,600 different taxing jurisdictions. [Taxing
Your E-Mail] [requires subscription]
Senator George Allen, Virginia Republican defends
his bill (he would, wouldn't he) even if the best thing about it
is the name (Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act).
Okay, so that's the scare from business and those who get those juicy campaign
contributions. They want the new Senate bill passed not because what it
will save you, but because it gives them even more tax breaks
and contributions, by reclassifying cable companies as "Internet services."
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
it is my guess that Hamas will celebrate Yom Kippur, PETA will open a chain of BBQ restaurants, and Britney Spears will be voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before there in an email tax in the United States
2 - Hal Pawluk
The e-mail tax is just the entry point for the story.
3 - Eric Olsen
and a startling one at that!
4 - Hal Pawluk
Shows the debilitating effects of a few decades in advertising and marketing :-