Yesterday, a bipartisan group of House members introduced H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act. The bill would make permanent the moratorium on new state and local Internet access taxes and on multiple or discriminatory taxation of e-commerce. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) are to be commended for taking action to promote continued broadband adoption and to ensure the future development and success of e-commerce and the digital economy.
The Internet tax moratorium was first enacted through the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 for three years. Since then, it has been extended in 2001, 2004 and 2007. The current moratorium will expire on November 1, 2014.
CCIA has long supported the moratorium, believing that keeping the Internet free of taxation has enabled it to become the engine of growth for the American economy that it is. Making the moratorium permanent can provide certainty and ensure that the engine continues to run smoothly.
E-commerce and digital markets are such an integral part of the 21st century U.S. economy that access to the Internet is effectively a prerequisite for economic participation. With all of the innovation, productivity gains and overall expansion of commerce that is enabled by the digital marketplace, it makes little sense to make participation more difficult by taxing access to it. We applaud these five House members, as well as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD) who introduced the Senate companion Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act (S. 1431) last month, for their vision and leadership, and look forward to swift action on these bills.