US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez have once again urged Congress to make permanent the moratorium on internet access taxes and on multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.
In a joint statement issued on Tuesday - shortly before the House of Representatives voted in favor of a four-year extension to the current temporary moratorium - Paulson and Gutierrez said that they were "extremely disappointed" that legislators have shied away from a permanent ban.
"Although we recognize that a temporary extension is better than letting the moratorium expire, we are extremely disappointed that the legislation does not extend permanently the moratorium on Internet access taxes and on multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce," they stated. "The internet is an innovative force that opens up the vast potential economic and social benefits of electronic commerce."
Paulson and Gutierrez added that:
"Preventing the taxation of internet access and keeping the internet free of multiple or discriminatory taxes will help sustain an environment for innovation, help ensure that consumers continue to have affordable access to the internet, and strengthen the foundations of electronic commerce as a vital and growing part of our economy."
"We look forward to working with Congress as the process moves forward to take advantage of this bipartisan opportunity to extend the moratorium permanently."
The House voted 405-2 in favor of the Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act, extending the moratorium on Internet access taxes and other taxes unique to the Internet only until November 2011. The current three-year moratorium is set to expire on November 1, 2007.
While many Representatives who voted for the extension have said that they would prefer the ban to be made permanent, they have conceded that such a proposal stands little chance of gaining Senate approval, and that therefore a temporary extension represents the next-best option.
"The Senate has not done anything yet and it has made clear a permanent moratorium would be dead on arrival," Rep. Mel Watt (D - NC), who led the Democrats' floor debate, was quoted as announcing by eWeek. "I don't know anyone in the technology industry who has said they'll stop innovating because is only four years. This not partisan politics; it is practical politics."
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