Senate continues discussing Cox’s tax bill

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- A local congressman’s bill to protect the Internet

from “discriminatory” taxes could face a vote in the Senate as early as

this week.

The Senate will reconvene for business today, after a Monday closure.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Chris Cox and passed in the House of

Representatives on Oct. 16, has been dwarfed by airport security,

economic recovery and other weightier matters.

But the possibility of Internet taxation has sparked debate again this

month, especially after a moratorium on taxation expired Oct. 21.

Cox and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) successfully passed the ban on “new,

special and discriminatory” taxes in 1998. The current bill, written by

the two lawmakers, would extend that ban for another two years while

Congress decides how to structure taxes imposed by local agencies, said

Wyden spokeswoman Lisa Wade Raasch.

With the moratorium expired, the nation’s 7,600 state and local

agencies could tax access and commerce over the Internet.

“It’s a way to move forward in the most expedited fashion,” Raasch

said. “The longer the moratorium is left expired, the more opportunity

for economic mischief.”

The Cox-Wyden bill is competing with a handful of other proposals in

the Senate, including a bill introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)

to extend the moratorium five years.

Wyden also co-wrote a similar bill with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Cox, who was traveling and could not be reached for comment Monday,

has said his bill would protect those who buy and sell goods over the

World Wide Web. The bill is also designed to prevent taxes on access via

Internet service providers.

“Congress must act now to disarm the tax collectors who target the

Internet for discriminatory tax treatment,” Cox said on Oct. 16.