Spanish American War tax might be put on internet use - really

[donsu]

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5555385.html?tag=sas.email


Congress proposes tax on all Net, data connections

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 congressional report comes not long after the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department said they were considering how the Spanish American War tax should be reinterpreted "to reflect changes in technology" used in "telephonic or telephonic quality communications." Tech companies including Microsoft, Intel and Skype slammed that idea in a September letter, asking the IRS to "refrain from any attempt to extend the excise tax to VoIP services."
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what a wonderful new way the bushgang has found to suck up our money.

[amber dog democrat]

1. This reduced cost for VOIP is only going to last for a short time.

Eventually the Government will figure out how to tax it.
I would give it 2 or 3 years max before this happens.
Long distance tolls is one benefit from IPT ( internet protocol telephony ) but strategically I don't see it as a permenant advantage.

[liberal N proud]

2. This is how they can get by without raising taxes.

Just tack a fee on to everything they can thus raising REVENUE but not taxes.
This will be the first step in the Internet tax they have been after for some time.