Yesterday President Bush signed into law HR 3678, the Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act of 2007. Thus the law now provides that “[n]o State or political subdivision thereof may impose any of the following taxes during the period beginning November 1, 2003, and ending November 1, 2014: (1) Taxes on Internet access and (2) Multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.” Certain grandfathering provisions applicable to states that tax Internet access were similarly extended until November 1, 2014.
Read more about the amendment at webpronews.com and TechCrunch.
I own an e-commerce store and I think the whole concept of an internet sales tax is ridiculous. Brick and mortar businesses say its needed to “even the playing field”. In reality the playing field is already even, with the addition of a sales tax it tilts to the brick and mortar stores favor. The reason…shipping costs. The money that on line shoppers save in sales taxes, they end up spending on shipping. Now they have to pay both online sales tax and shipping cost. This is a clear advantage for brick and mortar stores. I’m glad most shoppers don’t know about internet taxes or refuse to pay them, however I worry that at some point the Gov. may try to force e-commerce stores to collect it for them.
The law has now been extended through December 11, 2014 – http://ebiz.pwc.com/2014/10/usa-internet-tax-freedom-act-itfa-temporarily-extended-through-11-december-2014/