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Press ReleaseDecember 1999 State Legislatures magazine Should Cyberspace Be Taxed?
The questions are myriad and the answers obscure at the moment. But the December State Legislatures magazine takes a hard look at buying, selling and, most importantly, taxing the Internet. As "e-commerce" burgeons on the Internet, states stand to lose untold millions in sales and use taxes. But how do you tax cyberspace? That's the question facing legislators, Congress and a special committee on Internet taxation. State and local governments have long relied on sale and use taxes, but were halted in their attempts to collect out-of-state taxes from customers by a Supreme Court decision. That affected the mail order business, but e-commerce promises to be many times more lucrative. The quandary facing policymakers is that customers like the tax-free Internet. Yet states see sales of up to $150 billion by 2003. E-commerce advocates, however, question how 50 states can impose individual tax scales and how they can be enforced. In other articles, State Legislatures takes a glimpse into the crystal ball as predictions are made for Democrats, Republicans and control with redistricting looming in 2001 and the impact of the elections prior to that national boundary redesign. The magazine also looks at child protection and the role of small manufacturers in the state and national economy.
MEDIA ADVISORY: Complimentary copies of State Legislatures magazine are available to media members who call NCSL's Publications Division, (303) 830-2200, or send an e-mail request to Dianna Gordon, dianna.gordon@ncsl.org.
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