Congress passed this bill to protect E-commerce from taxation by increasing the moratorium on it for another two years. “The tremendous growth of e-commerce has created thousands of jobs in this country and led to countless new choices for Georgia consumers,” congressman Bob Barr of, the peach state, Georgia said. “I strongly believe the new economy should remain unfettered by burdensome taxes and regulation to encourage continued growth and innovation in the 21st century.” The moratorium was extended to November 1st, 2003 on all “access fees, new taxes and discriminatory taxes on the Internet.”
With the economy sagging and a war on terrorism on the bill, many Americans are wary of paying more taxes. The economy needs to pick itself up from the nasty slump that it finds itself and Internet taxes are just another thorn in its side.
“A basic economic rule is the more something is taxed the less of it there will be. I commend Congressman Chris Cox (R-CA), the bill’s author, for recognizing this. California consumers will continue benefiting through online commerce and will continue to do so as long as business is done in this relatively new medium,” congressman Edward R. Royce of California said. With 10,000 state and local government agencies waiting to tax the Internet, no one knows the impact of such move might have on an already starving economy. “Consumers and businesses need assurances that online commerce will not be burdened by tax policies,” said congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia asserted. “This plan has worked successfully for years. Now is not the time to singled out the Internet for discriminatory tax treatment.” Well said, congresswoman.
