Senators aim to ease up on Net, phone taxes

SENATORS AIM TO EASE UP ON NET, PHONE TAXES
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
Members of the newly seated U.S. Congress on Thursday wasted no time in proposing a series of measures designed to extend and expand tax breaks on Internet and telephone service. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), John McCain (R-AZ), and John Sununu (R-NH) proposed legislation that would make permanent an existing ban on state taxes on Internet access. The ban is set to expire on November 1. The moratorium, first enacted in 1998, was extended amid tense negotiations in 2004. Opponents of a sweeping ban have said it will erode municipalities' vital tax revenues, while supporters, including President Bush, have trumpeted a permanent extension as a means of ensuring more-affordable broadband access. Separately, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and John Ensign (R-NV) each introduced bills that would repeal the remaining portion of a federal excise tax that applies to customers who receive only local telephone service. Also on Thursday, Sen. Ted Stevens, who had served as the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, reintroduced a measure that could result in new fees on users' broadband bills. Under his Universal Service for Americans Act, all communications services -- whether they be broadband, voice over Internet protocol or telephone -- would be required to pay into a fund subsidizing service in rural areas, schools and libraries.
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