Congress Proposes Tax On All Net, Data Connections

[poe]

Jan.28, 2005-An influential congressional committee has dropped a political bombshell by suggesting that a tax originally created to pay for the Spanish American War could be extended to all Internet and data connections this year.

The committee, deeply involved in writing U.S. tax laws, unexpectedly said in a report Thursday that the 3 percent telecommunications tax could be revised to cover "all data communications services to end users," including broadband; dial-up; fiber; cable modems; cellular; and DSL, or digital subscriber line, links.

www.cnetnews.com or www.news.com.com/congress

[VegasWolf]

1. Give tax breaks to the wealthy, tax the shit out of the other 99%.n/t

[indepat]

23. I think you got it.

[mhr]

2. That Is One Way To Kill The Internet - And I Thought The Republicans

Were against taxes.

[49jim]

3. They won't be raising taxes,

they will be called fees....therefore won't be raising taxes.

[w4rma]

4. sarcasm? (nt)

[49jim]

5. How could you tell? n/t

[liberal N proud]

6. The repukes won't raise your taxes, they will just tack so damn many fees

on every thing that you will wish you were taxed.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

7. Just another way to rid the balance power the Internet offers.

:grr:

[htuttle]

8. I say it's time to dump a crate of AOL disks into Boston Harbor!

Who's with me?!?!?

[Lizzie Borden]

9. Sounds like fun to me!

}(

[hector459]

14. A major campaign should be started against any Congressman voting for

this...even if they are Dems. It's the only "freedom of the press" and real "free speech" we have left. We can't even paste profane bumper stickers on our own cars without being threatened with arrest.

[napi21]

10. So what's the name of this committee?

The only name I found in the article was the "Joint Committee on Taxation". Is that the one who came up with this idiotic idea? Hell, I've been bitching about paying more in fees on my damn phone bill than I pay for phone service, and this tax to fund the Spanish American war was one I wanted to go away!

I wrote down the names of the members of this JCOT committee, but I don't want to scream at them if it wasn't their idea.

Anyone know if that's the name of the committee who authoried this idea?

[sonicx]

11. You guys are right about the fee thing...

I'm surprised they don't call it a "Freedom Payment."

[sandnsea]

13. oh ssshhsh

You know they will. And the Bushbot freedom lovers will eat it right up.

[havocmom]

12. Those @(#*$@!_%! 'Tax & Spend Republicans'

Picking our pockets, running up record deficits, and mortgaging the nation to the Chinese bond buyers!*

*Repeat loudly and often ;)

[NVMojo]

15. when is the next Civil War starting?? It's time to get ready cuz it's

coming. These clocksuckers are going to bleed us to death if we don't do something soon.

[shanti]

16. you are so right...

..."These clocksuckers are going to bleed us to death if we don't do something soon..."

but they don't plan to stop cause it's working!

[paineinthearse]

17. Congress proposes tax on all Net, data connections

Congress proposes tax on all Net, data connections

By Declan McCullagh
http://news.com.com/Congress+proposes+tax+on+all+Net%2C+data+connections/2100-1028_3-5555385.html

Story last modified Fri Jan 28 15:50:00 PST 2005

An influential congressional committee has dropped a political bombshell by suggesting that a tax originally created to pay for the Spanish American War could be extended to all Internet and data connections this year. The committee, deeply involved in writing U.S. tax laws, unexpectedly said in a report Thursday that the 3 percent telecommunications tax could be revised to cover "all data communications services to end users," including broadband; dial-up; fiber; cable modems; cellular; and DSL, or digital subscriber line, links.

Currently, the 3 percent excise tax applies only to traditional telephone service. But because of technological convergence and the dropping popularity of landlines, the Joint Committee on Taxation concluded in its review of tax law reforms that it might make sense to extend the 100-year old levy to new technologies. The committee did not take a position on whether Congress should approve such an extension and simply listed it as an "option."

<snip>

The discussion in the tax committee's report, however, ventures far beyond VoIP. "Extending the tax to all communications requires taxing Internet access, bandwidth capacity, and the transmission of cable and satellite television," it says. Technology trade associations were instantly critical. "We need to be careful in trying to stretch a taxation system this old to be a catchall for all modern technology," said Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association for Competitive Technology. "We need to avoid starting down a path of overtaxing nascent forms of communication."

<snip>

Thursday's report, titled "Options to Improve Tax Compliance and Reform Tax Expenditures," is a broad review of tax law and proposes a number of ways--such as reforming the taxation of overseas corporations--to boost the federal government's bottom line by up to about $400 billion over the next decade.

It lists three different telecommunications tax options, one of which would cover all data communications. A second choice would extend the excise tax to cell phones and perhaps VoIP. The third would clearly levy the charge on VoIP, including Internet-only phone calls using services such as Skype that do not touch the public telephone network. "It is not necessary that the voice communications service provide" that capability, the report says.

more.......

Note: Members of the Joint Committee on Taxation include Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Max Baucus, D-Mont.; John Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; and representatives Bill Thomas, R-Calif.; and Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

[banana republican]

24. FIRST THEY TAX US THEN THEY STEAL IT

REPUKES SUCK

[DavidDvorkin]

18. Ooo, they have awakened the sleeping dragon!

They're running it up the flagpole to see who salutes. Instead, they should be preparing for a barrage.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

19. I guess they figured the air fees might not fly.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Is this just an elaborate version of the "tax on e-mail" hoax?

:shrug:

[salin]

21. my thought when I read it...

along with the tax on email... I read some "university will begin charging for email" hoaxes back in my grad school days.

[jazzjunkysue]

22. Gee. I wouldn't want to send any flamers after the GOP's pet companies,

would you?