
Chairman
The Honorable James S. Gilmore,
III Governor Commonwealth of Virginia
Members
Mr. Dean F. Andal Chairman California Board of
Equalization
Mr. C. Michael Armstrong Chairman and
CEO, AT&T
Mr. Joseph H. Guttentag Senior Advisor to the Assistant
Secretary for Tax Policy U.S. Department of the
Treasury
The Honorable Paul C. Harris Sr. Delegate Virginia House
of Delegates
The Honorable Delna Jones Commissioner Washington
County, Oregon
The Honorable Ron Kirk Mayor City of Dallas
The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt Governor State of
Utah
Mr. Gene N. Lebrun President (1997-1999) National
Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
The Honorable Gary Locke Governor State of
Washington
Mr. Grover Norquist President Americans for Tax
Reform
Mr. Robert Novick General Counsel U.S. Trade
Representative
Mr. Richard Parsons President Time Warner, Inc.
Mr. Andrew Pincus General Counsel U.S. Department of
Commerce
Mr. Robert Pittman President & Chief Operating
Officer America Online
Mr. David Pottruck President & co-Chief Executive
Officer Charles Schwab and Company
Mr. John W. Sidgmore Vice Chairman MCI WorldCom and
Chairman UUNET
Mr. Stanley Sokul Independent Consultant Association
for Interactive Media
Mr. Theodore Waitt Chairman Gateway,
Inc. |
|
|
For Immediate
Release May 17, 2000 |
Press
Contacts: Debbie Neville O'Keeffe &
Company, Inc. (703) 883-9000, ext.
104 dneville@okeeffeco.com |
Heather
Rosenker Executive Director Advisory Commission on
Electronic Commerce (703)
993-8049 rosenker@gmu.edu |
Mark Miner Press
Secretary Office of the Governor of Virginia (804)
692-3110 mminer@gov.state.va.us |
Another E-Commerce Commission
Proposal Approved in Congress - Commission's
Report Sailing Through Congress -
Arlington, VA - May 17, 2000 - In separate Committees
today, Congress continued to act on the Advisory Commission on
Electronic Commerce's Report. The House Ways & Means
Committee passed HR 3916, repealing the three percent Federal
telephone tax. HR 3916 is expected to go to the House floor
for a vote next week.
The Report, sent to Congress by the Advisory Commission on
Electronic Commerce, called on Congress to abolish the tax
completely in order to relieve tax burdens on Internet
connections, reduce the cost of Internet access, and help
bridge the digital divide. The Federal three percent tax
appears on each consumer's monthly telephone bill, and applies
to all local and long-distance telephone service, including
the use of phone lines to access the Internet. The tax was
first levied in 1898 as a luxury tax on the few Americans who
owned telephones in order to fund the Spanish American
War.
"With the approval of this bill, the Committee has just
voted to save the taxpayers of America $5 billion each year,"
said Commission Chairman, Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, III.
"This sort of tax relief is a giant step toward cutting taxes
for American consumers and bridging the gap in the digital
divide." Gilmore also noted, "Cutting the telephone tax is the
third major idea from the Commission to gain traction in
Congress. The Commissioners can take pride their work is
delivering tax cuts for the American people."
In other Congressional action today, the House Judiciary
Committee heard testimony from former Advisory Commission
members Paul Harris (Delegate, Commonwealth of Virginia), Ron
Kirk (Mayor, Dallas, Texas), Grover Norquist (President,
Americans for Tax Reform), and Stan Sokul (Consultant,
Davidson & Co.) in a hearing on HR 4267. Co-sponsored by
Representatives Henry Hyde (R-IL), John Conyers (D-MI), George
Gekas (R-PA), and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the bi-partisan bill
is known as the Internet Tax Reform and Reduction Act of 2000.
The bill amends the 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act to impose a
permanent moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet
access; to extend for five years the duration of the
moratorium applicable to multiple and discriminatory taxes on
electronic commerce; to impose a five-year moratorium on taxes
on sales of digitized goods and products; to encourage states
to adopt a Uniform Sales and Use Tax. HR 4267 also would
define clear jurisdictional nexus rules for sales taxes on
remote sales. Each of these ideas was contained in the
Commission's Report.
The Commission was created 20 months ago by the Internet
Tax Freedom Act. The Commission delivered its Report to
Congress on April 12. It includes formal Recommendations that
were endorsed by two-thirds or more of the 19 senior industry,
government, and public policy executives who served on the
Commission. The Report also includes Majority Policy Proposals
that were agreed to by more than a majority of the
Commissioners. Just last week, the House of Representatives
voted 352 to 75 to pass HR3709, supporting the Commission's
Report by extending the moratorium for five years prohibiting
multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce, and
eliminating taxes on Internet access fees.
About the Advisory Commission on Electronic
Commerce
Appointed by Congress in October 1998 as part of the
Internet Tax Freedom Act, the 19-member Commission has been
tasked with studying the impact of federal, state, local, and
international taxation and tariffs on transactions using the
Internet and Internet Access. The Commission's recommendations
were provided to Congress on April 12, 2000, ahead of the
deadline of April 21, 2000.
###
www.ecommercecommission.org 3401 North Fairfax
Drive Telephone: (703) 993-8049 · Facsimile: (703)
993-8250 |