Internet Tax Debate Heats up Senator McCain confronted with conflicting positions
(BELLEVUE, Wash.)
NoInternetTax.org, a leading grassroots opponent of Internet taxation and regulation, issued a letter to Senator
John McCain asking him to clarify his position on Internet taxation.
“Senator McCain has sent conflicting
signals on his stance on this high profile issue. At one point, he authored a permanent ban, and now he is working on
compromise legislation that will open the door for Internet taxation.” stated Jennifer Holder, Executive Vice President
of NoInternetTax.org. “On behalf of our members, we have asked Senator McCain to make his position clear on this issue.”
Internet taxation is currently under debate on Capitol Hill, as the current moratorium, forbidding discretionary
taxation of the Internet and Internet access, will expire in October. Currently, taxes apply to e-Commerce in the exact
same manner as they do for catalogue, television and telephone sales.
In the compromise legislation, states are
proposing a “streamlined” system that flattens tax rates and allows Internet taxes to be collected through a national
collection center.
“Consumers should be concerned that this will allow for the formation of a national
database that will monitor their personal information and shopping habits,” added Holder. “Furthermore, the legislation
that Senator McCain is reviewing is clearly unconstitutional as the Supreme Court has ruled twice previously that it
violates interstate commerce and creates an undue burden to force an out-of-state business to pay taxes to a state where
they have no physical presence.”
### About NoInternetTax.org: Based in Bellevue, Wash.,
NoInternetTax.org is a nonpartisan education and advocacy organization. The mission of the organization is to protect the
Internet on the state, national and international level from burdensome regulation and taxation. For more information,
please visit our Web site at: www.NoInternetTax.org.
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