My headline is a bit misleading, as the House voted to continue the ban on internet access tax 405-2, and there's really no immediate threat of such a tax. But the trouble is Democrats fearing the day the internet encompasses all economic activity leaving them much more powerless to redistribute wealth should a permanent ban be made law.
Money quote:
"I think it would be a serious mistake to make this a permanent moratorium ... because we don't have a clue standing here today what the capacity of the Internet is," said Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.). "By four years from now, everything in life may be being done on the Internet. We might have a virtual world out there, and we may not be able to tax anything under the moratorium."The internet is the future of most economic activity, and to tax access to it is highly counterintuitive, if not outright anti-growth. That doesn't matter to the Dems as much as what they see as an opportunity for massively expanding the government budget and control. If there is a time to make it permanent, it's now.
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I wonder how the "Fair"Taxers can support this; after all, the Internet would kill their attempts to balance the budget on a 30% sales tax.
It's merely a ban on taxing the access to internet, but yes, it'd be easier to dodge a 30% sales tax through the internet by shopping abroad, underground, etc.
I like the idea of a low and optional flat tax much better.
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