Net taxes could arrive by this fall

CNET News.com ^ | May 23, 2007 | Declan McCullagh

[George W. Bush]

This story is a week or two old. But this needs to be hammered home repeatedly.

The Dims will help their governors impose massive taxes on internet commerce and access while providing subsidies and giveaways for all the "poor". Watch for them to try to slip this through in the dark of night.

Watch for it. Oppose it!

[The Blitherer]

"Are we implicitly blessing a situation where states are forced to raise other taxes, such as income or property taxes, to offset the growing loss of sales tax revenue?"

I have a better idea. Instead of raising taxes or adding new taxes, STOP WASTING THE MONEY YOU DO GET!!!

[ShadowAce]

[Post Toasties]

The ‘Rats are taxaholic idiots.

[twonie]

I don’t think they have any right to tax my money when I spend it in any way, far less money I spend on the internet. This is really disheartening.

[sheana]

I am so tired. Our government is so out of control that it seems I spend most of my days now telling them NO!!!
This is not right. That we have to watch over our politicians like this is horrible.
Is there noone left in elected office that is just decent and does what is best for Americans as a whole?
This has become beyond ridiculous.

[HaveHadEnough]

If that doesn't happen, other taxes may zoom upward instead, warned Sen. Michael Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, at a Senate hearing on Wednesday. "Are we implicitly blessing a situation where states are forced to raise other taxes, such as income or property taxes, to offset the growing loss of sales tax revenue?" Enzi said. "I want to avoid that."

Idiot. No state is "forced" to raise taxes.

[4yearlurker]

If all these taxes do go into effect I am off the Internet for good. I lived just fine before the Net came around.

[K-oneTexas]

They'll tax it when you spend it and tax it when you earn it and tax it when you inherit it.

The only real option is tax reform. Tax when spending is better than when earning at least because you have a choice in the matter. Tax when earning and inheriting you are out of the picture and have no choice.

[Gondring]

As the story says, the taxes already exist in many places, but the enforcement doesn’t. (The example they give with Amazon.com and California applies to other states, such as Pennsylvania, etc. Even if the retailer doesn’t collect sales tax, the purchaser is responsible for sending in the “Use Tax” to his home state.)

So...where are all the people screaming for enforcement of THESE laws?

[alloysteel]

I guess I am just going to either have to drop off the Internet, or severely restrict my access to primarily pirate sites.

This is like regulating the radio spectrum. For years, AM programming has been supported just about entirely by advertising revenues, with no taxes levied on the consumer of the broadcast, only on the originator. Now, the Internet is going to be scrutinized and regulated like the telephone industry, taxes applied to the user at the point of access.

A LOT of traffic moves through telephone that manages to stay below the radar on tax revenues. Presumedly, much the same could be done on the Internet, at least for a while.

If only because of the sheer volume of traffic.

[Eagle of Liberty]

I don’t think they have any right to tax my money when I spend it in any way, far less money I spend on the internet. This is really disheartening.

I agree. Income tax had to have a constitutional amendment to make it legal to begin with and then you have states that have income taxes AND sales taxes. So your gross income is taxed and then your net income is taxed when you buy stuff. IMHO, I am completely sick of our entire taxaholic Government who cannot even control the incredible amounts of money that it gets. I believe this is the first year that the Fed Gov received more in tax revenue than private businesses did in profit.

It would be nice if one session of Congress had only one goal; REDUCE SPENDING!

[4yearlurker]

The enforcement of these existing tax laws probably cost more to enforce than revenue that would be generated.

[Brilliant]

“A United Nations agency proposed in 1999 the idea of a 1-cent-per-100-message tax, but retreated after criticism. (A similar proposal, called bill “602P,” is, however, actually an urban legend.)”

Another case of fiction imitating reality, or vice versa.

[Eagle of Liberty]

The only real option is tax reform. Tax when spending is better than when earning at least because you have a choice in the matter. Tax when earning and inheriting you are out of the picture and have no choice.

I agree, but I am not holding my breath on anything happening. W put together a tax reform exploratory committee. What happened? Nada. And look how loud we have to yell for anyone to get a clue on immigration. Can you imagine how loud we will have to yell to get them to reform one of the biggest strings they possess for controlling us? It may take more than yelling to rid ourselves of the current tax abomination. Not to mention people get more upset with $3.50/gallon gas than they do over a 1% sales tax increase or a Federal bump in the income tax brackets. The first thing that has to happen is NO MORE AUTOMATIC DEDUCTIONS. Make every individual see how much they pay their local, state and Federal governments on a monthly basis.

[Arthalion]

A tax on email would never, ever work. People would simply abandon it for “cached” instant messaging, STW (secure transient webpages), or other technologies that allow people to communicate without invoking SMTP and the “email” moniker. Nothing short of a per-kilobit tax would stop people from working around the tax, and a per-kilobit tax would be viciously opposed by everyone from the telephone companies (who want to deliver TV over broadband) to the cable companies (who want to deliver telephone service over broadband) to every single web owner and online media service. We would revert back to 1995, when webpages were simple and images were optional because every KB was precious (back then because connections were slow, now because they’re expensive).

[VeniVidiVici]

This will blow-up in the Dimwits faces.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Fascists.

[Red in Blue PA]

You are correct.....I wasn't even aware my own state had this law in place: If you or your business buys items that are subject to Sales Tax, for which the seller does not charge and collect the tax on the invoice (or receipt), you are personally responsible for remitting the tax directly to the PA Department of Revenue. This tax is called USE TAX. Purchases made over the Internet, through toll-free numbers (800, 888, and 877), from mail order catalogs, or from an out-of-state location are examples of purchases that would be subject to USE TAX if Sales Tax was not paid. The tax rate is the same as the Sales Tax, 6 percent state, and 1 percent local tax, if the purchaser is located in Philadelphia or Allegheny County. http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/cwp/view.asp?a=13&q=250484

[camas]

dumb idea. if they collect 10% of the tax they will be lucky.

they can’t even catch spammers.