A series of temporary bans on internet access taxes has been in
place in the US since 1998, forbidding states to create any new
taxes on internet connections for fear of stifling the growth of
e-commerce. But this ongoing ban has been subject to criticism,
particularly from budget pressed Governors who would welcome
additional tax income.
Both the White House and the House of Representatives are in
favour of a permanent ban, with the House of Representatives voting
in favour of a related Bill in September. But opposition to a
permanent ban appears stronger in the Senate, which has indicated a
preference for extending the temporary ban.
Senators admitted on Friday that they had not reached agreement
on a permanent ban but said that negotiations would continue. The
difficulty relates to broad wording in the Bill that could be
interpreted as extending the ban to phone services, pager services
and other services likely to be available on the internet in the
future.
Opponents of the ban said that to extend the moratorium to cover
these additional technologies could cost as much as $9 billion a
year in lost revenue by 2006.
According to the New York Times, the sponsors of the Bill,
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Senator George Allen, Republic of
Virginia, said that a temporary extension would be acceptable, if
opponents agree to an extension of the technologies covered by the
ban.
