INTERNET TAX PROPOSED

 

 

Rodney Stubbs
January 31, 2005
NewsWithViews.com

United States Congress Joint Committee on Taxation Proposes to Tax Internet Use

The United States Congress is not broke it is corrupt. For years, rumors spread across the Nation that Internet taxes were going to be assessed. All those rumors proved to be wrong, that is until January 27, 2005 when the Joint Committee on Taxation issued a 435 page report. On page 375 in Section 4251 Option 3 proposes to expand the tax base to all voice and data communications.

Under Option 3, the communications excise tax base is generally expanded to include all data communications excise tax base to include all data communications services to end users.

The taxable base includes local and long distance voice services, VOIP (the latest innovation in communicating over the internet) analog and digital cellular and satellite telephone services, cable and satellite television services (to the extent the charge is for communications), broadband and dial up Internet access services, paging services, and other data communication services.

The proposal states, “In general, a service component is classified as a communications service if the primary purpose of the service component is the transmission of communications, as contrasted with the content of the communications or the capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making information available via communications. The billing and bundling rules are similar to those of Option 2. For example, cable and satellite television is considered to consist of a taxable communications service component bundled with a nontaxable information (content) component.”

The tax proposal includes, “….communications capacity (“bandwidth”) is taxable, whether provided, for example, as a service, as a lease, or as the sale of “lit” (activated) fiber optic cable or installed “dark” (inactivated) fiber.”

The entire report to fleece American of their hard earned cash can be read at www.house.gov/jct/s-2-05.pdf. The main site for the Joint Committee on Taxation was visited 465,530 times since January 27, 2005 according to the Committees website www.house.gov/jct/.

JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION, 108TH CONGRESS, 2ND SESSION

SENATE

Charles E. Grassley (R) , Iowa, Chairman
Orrin G. Hatch (R), Utah
Don Nickles, Oklahoma
Max Baucus (D), Montana
John D. Rockefeller IV (D) West Va.

HOUSE

William M. Thomas (R), CA, Vice Chairman
Philip M. Crane, Illinois
E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R), Florida
Charles B. Rangel (D), New York
Fortney Pete Stark (D), California

(Note: Congress is now beginning with the 109th CONGRESS, 1st Session and the membership of the Joint Committee on Taxation will change.)

© 2005 Rodney Stubbs - All Rights Reserved