Congress closes in on reviving Net tax ban
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WASHINGTON - Lawmakers revived a long-stalled effort Wednesday to block state and local governments from taxing Internet connections, in a last-minute agreement to ban the taxes until 2007.
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Congress wanted to help survivors. But IRS rules could get in the way.
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Congress last week passed legislation that extends by three years the prohibition of states and localities from imposing &quot;discriminatory&quot; taxes on electronic commerce, and the ban on Internet access taxes.
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Congress acted Friday to block state and local governments from taxing connections that link consumers to the Internet for the next three years.
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Congress acted in its final hours Wednesday to block growth of the alternative minimum tax, putting off an economic hardship affecting more than 20 million taxpayers and avoiding what would have been a political black mark for both parties
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The U.S. House of Representatives approved a seven-year extension of the existing moratorium on Internet-only taxes that was first proposed by the Senate last week.
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The U.S. Senate has passed legislation that would extend a moratorium on Internet access taxes for seven years, giving supporters hope that an extension will be signed into law before the current moratorium expires Nov. 1.
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The U.S. Congress on Friday reinstated a ban on Internet access taxes after the House of Representatives agreed to extend it for another three years rather than make it permanent.
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A major rewrite of corporate tax law that would end a trade dispute with Europe won congressional negotiators&#39; backing yesterday after House Republicans beat back efforts to increase tobacco regulation.
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The U.S. Senate has passed legislation that would extend a moratorium on Internet access taxes for seven years, giving supporters hope that an extension will be signed into law before the current moratorium expires Nov. 1.The Senate late Thursday passed the seven-year extension on a voice vote. The moratorium would extend the ban on Internet-only taxes, such as access and &quot;bit&quot; taxes on information as it travels through a taxing jurisdiction. The Senate passed an amended version of a House of Representatives bill, the awkwardly named Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act.The House passed a four-year Internet tax moratorium&#160;earlier this month. The two chambers will have to reconcile the two versions of the moratorium before sending the legislation to U.S. President George Bush to be signed.The Senate&#39;s seven-year extension represented a compromise between a group of senators, many of whom opposed an extension in the past, who wanted a four-year ban, and a second group that wanted a permanent ban.Senators calling for a four-year ban, including Thomas Carper, a Delaware Democrat, and Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, argued that a permanent extension would hurt state and local governments&#39; long-term ability to raise money. Other critics of the ban have raised concerns that a permanent ban would give telecom providers the opportunity to press for tax-exempt status on services such as VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol).&quot;This agreement is a common sense victory both for Internet users and for state and local governments,&quot; Carper and Alexander said in a joint statement. &quot;It continues the moratorium on Internet taxation, avoids unfunded federal mandates on states and cities ... and allows Congress to revisit the issue after seven years.&quot;Supporters of a long-term ban say it encourages broadband adoption, and, by extension, helps drive the U.S. economy.Senator John Sununu, a New Hampshire Republican who pushed for a permanent moratorium, also praised the Senate&#39;s action. The amendment crafted by Sununu and Carper, in addition to extending the ban, made some changes to the House bill that were intended to protect e-mail messages and instant messaging from usage taxes, Sununu said.Some critics, including Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, had raised concerns that a Senate moratorium bill would open up e-mail and instant messaging to taxes.&quot;This bill -- a drastic improvement over what came out of the House -- makes a clear statement that taxes on Internet access are wrong for consumers and wrong for the economy,&quot; Sununu said in a statement. &quot;The Senate has made real progress in the name of Internet tax freedom, passing improved legislation that offers more certainty for this national and global communication network.&quot;Wyden, a long-time tax moratorium supporter, also applauded the Senate vote.The changes approved by the Senate will protect instant messaging and e-mail, including voice and video messaging services, Wyden said in a statement.&quot;These services have sparked revolutions in our ability to communicate, bringing distant grandparents closer to their grandchildren and giving our soldiers in the field a more direct link to home,&quot; he added.
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Washington state residents were one step closer Wednesday to being able to deduct an estimated $500 million in sales taxes from their federal tax returns.
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House and Senate negotiators hope to wrap up work on a major rewrite of corporate tax law that would end a nasty trade dispute with Europe while showering more than &#36;130 billion in tax breaks on a wide variety of businesses from ethanol producers to movie makers.
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WASHINGTON, Nov 19  - The House of Representatives on Friday approved a ban on taxing Internet access and online sales, which US President George W. Bush is expected to sign, a sponsor of the bill said.
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WASHINGTON -- A major rewrite of corporate tax law that would end a trade dispute with Europe won congressional negotiators' backing yesterday after House Republicans beat back efforts to increase tobacco regulation. The measure would repeal a tax break for thousands of US exporters that the World Trade Organization ruled illegal. As a replacement, it offers more than $140 billion ...
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The U.S. Congress on Friday  reinstated a ban on Internet access taxes after the House of  Representatives agreed to extend it for another three years  rather than make it permanent.
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The day before a preliminary Senate vote to extend a soon-to-expire prohibition on Internet access taxes, Commerce and Treasury chiefs urge something more lasting.
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Millions of entrepreneurs, teachers and parents with kids in college have a financial stake in whether Congress, in the dying hours of Republican rule, revives tax breaks that expired 11 months ago.