Taxes are supposed to be one of life s certainties, but Congress is trying to make an exception for Internet access.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would permanently extend the current ban on taxes on Net access. The bill, dubbed the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, would also continue the prohibition on taxes on Internet-only services such as email or taxing things like e-commerce at a higher rate than their offline equivalents.
The House approved the bill on a voice vote. It now moves on to the Senate.
Congress first passed the Internet Tax Freedom Act in 1998. But the law was set to expire three years later. Congress has extended it four times since then.
The bill faces somewhat uncertain prospects in the Senate. The House passed a similar permanent extension last year, only to see it fail in the Senate. Some congressional leaders have tried in the past to tie the extension to a bill that would authorize states to collect sales taxes on goods sold to their residents by retailers located in other states.
File photo from AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais.
