Last week, our Co-Chairman Bruce Mehlman appeared on a panel as part of the State of the Net in Washington, D.C. The discussion, “The Internet Leadership Challenge: Restoring America to Economic Greatness Through Sound Internet Policy,” was moderated by Joe Waz, Senior Strategic Adviser to the Comcast Corporation. Also on the panel were Blair Levin, Communications & Society Fellow, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform.
Here’s video of the discussion, which touches on President Obama’s legacy, taxation of the Internet, and the transition from legacy networks to all-IP.
Brendan Sasso of The Hillreports that in order to achieve its goal of connecting everyone to broadband, the FCC is considering a new tax:
The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing a proposal to tax broadband Internet service.
The move would funnel money to the Connect America Fund, a subsidy the agency created last year to expand Internet access.
The FCC issued a request for comments on the proposal in April. Dozens of companies and trade associations have weighed in, but the issue has largely flown under the public’s radar.
Via Kent Hoover of The Business Journals, a bill that would allows states to start charging sales taxes on online purchases is gaining momentum:
Bricks-and-mortar retailers have long complained that the tax-free status of e-commerce gives Internet retailers an unfair price advantage. As more retail sales move toward the Internet, state and local governments are increasingly feeling the loss of sales tax revenue. Even many Republican governors who favor keeping taxes low now think the time has come to force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes.
One of those governors is Bill Haslam of Tennessee, who testified a today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing.
“Let me clear—I am a Republican governor that does not believe in increasing taxes,” Haslam said.
Via The Hill, the House Ways and Means Committee is holding a hearing on Internet gambling taxes tomorrow:
The committee’s inquiry will focus specifically on tax and revenue portions of bills introduced over the past year that would revise or totally roll back the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). That law, which cleared Congress in 2006, was slated to enter effect in December 2009, but lawmakers successfully lobbied for a six-month delay.
According to this article from Bloomberg, it’s been estimated that taxes on online gambling could mean as much as $42 billion in revenue for the federal government over the next decade.
With broadband stimulus funds slowly making their way to applicants, a new wrinkle has emerged that may slow down recipients putting the money to good use. As Phone Plus reports, it comes down to the question of taxes:
[I]f the government doesn’t clarify whether the grants are considered taxable income, onlookers fear recipients won’t use the money any time soon – defeating the purpose of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
When asked whether recipients would be taxed on the stimulus funds, the Treasury Department reportedly offered no concrete answer. Stay tuned…
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