[IP] more on Rep. Chris Cox warns IRS not to tax Net phone calls
Begin forwarded message:
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@xxxxxxxx>
Date: July 21, 2004 1:35:49 AM EDT
To: politech@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Politech] Rep. Chris Cox warns IRS not to tax Net phone calls
Previous Politech message:
http://www.politechbot.com/2004/07/06/irs-voip-taxes/
---
July 7, 2004
The Honorable George W. Bush
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Thank you for your outstanding leadership in defending Internet
consumers against destructive taxation and regulation. Your advocacy
of a
permanent ban on Internet access taxes and your determination to remove
regulatory obstacles to broadband deployment are critical ingredients in
America's continued economic success.
Yet as clear as your clarion call for freedom and innovation has been,
it
appears that some in the administration still aren't getting the
message.
The attached story from News.com describes an IRS decision to consider
putting new taxes on the Internet -- specifically, by extending to the
Internet the Spanish-American War Tax on telephone service enacted more
than
one hundred years ago.
Ironically, Republicans in Congress have been working hard to abolish
this
tax completely. When it comes to consumer excise taxes, only alcohol
and
tobacco are taxed more heavily at the federal level than phone service.
Telephone customers are then hit with state and local tax rates that
can run
up to three times the rates paid on other goods. That is why the House
has
voted to liberate consumers from this regressive tax.
I can think of few initiatives that would do more to impede the Bush
broadband agenda than extending the Spanish-American War Tax to Internet
telephony. I urge you to direct the IRS immediately to affirm that this
100-year-old tax does not apply to the Internet, but only to traditional
analog voice services. If IRS analysis suggests that this will prevent
Washington from raising new revenue from this tax, that would be very
good
news for American consumers -- and more than 100 years overdue.
Thank you for your leadership in protecting American consumers from
destructive taxation. Please let me know if I may be of assistance in
keeping the Spanish-American War Tax off of Internet telephony.
Sincerely,
Christopher Cox
U.S. Representative
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