Campaign for Liberty to Congress: No New (Internet) Taxes

Campaign for Liberty has joined a collation of over forty other organizations in a letter to the Senate urging to reject efforts to attach the National Internet Tax Moratorium to the Internet Access Tax Moratorium. Instead the letter urges the Senate to simply pass the Internet Access Moratorium bill as quickly as possible.

Text of the letter here and below. Campaign for Liberty members should conduct their Senators and tell them to oppose any efforts to attach the Internet Sales Tax to legislation extending the Internet Access Tax Moratorium.

 Coalition Letter in Favor of a Permanent InternetTax Moratorium

Dear Senators,

On behalf of the undersigned, we encourage you to pass a clean permanent extensionof the Internet Tax  Moratorium, and commend the House of Representatives on passage of H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (PITFA).

Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have introduced S. 1432, the Internet Tax Freedom

Forever Act (ITFFA), which mirrors the House language.Both ITFFA and PITFA reauthorize and make permanent legislation that has been U.S. national policy since 1998. The clean Internet access tax moratorium overwhelmingly passed the House, and similarly a clean ITFFA will easily pass the Senate, andagain protect unfettered access to Internet connections.

Americans would be overjoyed to see Congress agree, and pass, legislation that protects consumers from increased costs when accessing and using the Internet, and protects them from discriminatory or duplicative taxation of Internet commerce. Taxes on communications services are already punitive and discriminatory. The average sales tax rate

on voice services is 17 percent, and 12 percent on video services, while the average general sales tax rate is 7

percent.

A clean ITFFA would at the very least prevent this targeted tax on Internet access. Excessive taxes will hinder continued growth in the digital space. The FCC’s National Broadband Plan states that the largest barrier to consumer adoption and expanded use of Internet based services is cost. Allowing the Internet access tax moratorium to lapse would certainly lead to higher tax rates on consumers and thus reduce the rate of adoption and innovation.

The Internet is our greatest gateway to innovation and education, higher taxes on Inter net access undermines American economic competiveness and growth.

We encourage the Senate to act now to permanently extend the Moratorium on Internet Access Taxes.