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Press
Release RIDGE PLAN TO EXEMPT COMPUTER SALES TAXES & SILENCE ON NATIONAL INTERNET TAX PLAN DON'T ADD UP FOR CONSUMERS Released by Sean Duffy on 02/03/2000 of Commonwealth Foundation |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(2/3/00) CONTACT: Sean Duffy – 717-671-1901 www.commonwealthfoundation.org (HARRISBURG) -- Putting Gov. Ridge's computer sales-tax exemption in context, The Commonwealth Foundation today said that the limited savings from this positive program could be overwhelmed by an ongoing national effort to slap sales taxes on online purchases that are now tax-free – a plan that the Ridge Administration has refused to oppose. "Exempting computers from sales taxes for a couple of weeks a year is a nice idea that will certainly cause more Pennsylvania families to consider taking the important step of bringing a computer into their home," said Commonwealth Foundation President Sean Duffy. "But these families could quickly see their savings drowned in a flood of new Internet sales taxes that some governors and other politicians are hell-bent to impose on American consumers." The Governor today proposed two one-week opportunities to purchase a personal computer without having to pay state or local sales taxes. The Ridge Administration has refused to fight a proposal put forth by a coalition of state and local politicians from around the country – spearheaded by the taxpayer-subsidized National Governors Association. The plan would impose a new national scheme to collect sales taxes on every Internet purchase, constrict citizen access to Internet providers and jeopardize consumers' privacy. Scholars have estimated that the imposition of these new Internet sales taxes could slash electronic commerce, which is a growing sector of Pennsylvania's economy, by nearly one-quarter. "It doesn't make sense to tout a state plan that would put dollars in consumers' pockets while remaining silent on a large, national plan that will vacuum those dollars – and much more – right back out again," Duffy said. Currently, only companies that have a physical presence in a state are required to collect sales taxes for that state. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot require out-of-state companies to collect taxes for them, since this would interfere with interstate commerce. The NGA Internet tax plan would do an end run around the Supreme Court, at the expense of consumers, entrepreneurs – and high-wage jobs. Duffy noted that two Republican governors – Gilmore of Virginia and Cellucci of Massachusetts – are leading efforts to oppose the national effort to tax the Internet. The Commonwealth Foundation is a founding partner in the E-Freedom Coalition (www.e-freedom.org), an organization of more than two dozen consumer, taxpayer and public policy organizations that has presented a plan to keep Internet taxes OFFline. Founded in 1988, The Commonwealth Foundation is a statewide, non-partisan, public-policy research organization based in Harrisburg, Pa. * * * * | |
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