U.S. Senate committee approves Internet tax ban

[Nambe]

WASHINGTON (Reuters)

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Thursday toughened an existing ban on Internet access taxes by voting to make it permanent and requiring nine states to repeal existing taxes on access fees.

The measure would make permanent a ban on the access taxes currently due to expire in November, and would require states that have existing taxes in place to remove them within three years.

Access taxes -- levied on the monthly fees Internet users pay to providers like EarthLink Inc. -- have been prohibited under a temporary ban since 1998, but nine states who had such taxes in place before the ban was enacted are currently allowed to keep them.

The nine states -- New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin -- take in between $3.6 million and $45 million each year from such taxes. ---

Banish bush From Texas Too

[pw]

1. Just what states need -- another tax cut

Talk about unfunded mandates.

[wuushew]

2. there are plenty of non-regressive taxes to make up revenues with

sales taxes are some of the most unfair taxes of all