Death of the Internet: 12-1-2003 Congress Mulls Over Taxing Everything Internet Related

dmcowen674

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Oct 13, 1999
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12-1-2003 Net Taxes: Here Comes a Battle Royal

More than 30 states have been quietly working to simplify and streamline their sales tax laws. That's a crucial step in their plan to require e-tailers to collect sales tax on all goods they sell. For decades, mail-order and online sellers have avoided that responsibility, thanks to a series of Supreme Court rulings that barred states from forcing out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes. The High Court blocked the practice, saying most sales-tax laws were too confusing for out-of-state sellers. But the court also said Congress could permit such collections if state sales taxes were simplified.

That will set the stage for yet another battle over e-taxes next year. And that struggle could, for the first time, take the issue beyond the narrow question of taxing monthly Internet service provider [ISP] fees. It could open the door to the much bigger controversy over taxing all e-commerce.


10-31-2003 Well, I'll start saying my Goodbyes, I'm sure many of you won't miss me anyway.

Congress let the ban on Taxation of the Internet expire yesterday so:

LET THE TAXATION BEGIN


10-28-2003 Hopefully between today and Friday I can change the Title of this thread but if the 4 Senators that are holding the Permanent Exemption from Taxation for the Internet Bill do not release it before Friday then the Tax Exemption Moratorium ends and that means an endless flood of Internet Taxation that would surely be the Death of the Internet at least in the truest form it was meant to be.

Florida has already been banking that the Moratorium will end and has already been taxing Florida residents 14%.

I've been amazed that Florida residents have not been screaming about this.
 

LunarRay

Diamond Member
Mar 2, 2003
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Could you elaborate on this 'bill'? Are purchases taxed at the 14% rate or the charges we pay for access or both or what? I'm sorta like never heard of this.. Only thing I understood was that internet sales would include the sales tax related to the sales tax if the item was purchased in the local store.. with all the same exemptions.. like Rx etc.. This sales tax would be forwarded to the state where the purchase occured... Is this in addition or part of..?
 

dmcowen674

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Oct 13, 1999
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Originally posted by: Vaerilis
A 14% sales tax would by no chance mean the end of the internet...

You don't understand. Taxes would be coming from every which angle they can think of. Florida with it's Communications Tax, added on to your ISP Bill, The Federal Govt would add all sorts of Taxes including the infamous E-mail Tax of course would be guised as some sort of anti-spam measure that won't work, then there would be taxes on anything purchased anywhere and you would be charged Taxes at both the originated Stae, the destination State and all sorts of points in between.

It would surely be the End of The Internet for all but the wealthy that could afford it.

 
Dec 27, 2001
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Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Hopefully between today and Friday I can change the Title of this thread but if the 4 Senators that are holding the Permanent Exemption from Taxation for the Internet Bill do not release it before Friday then the Tax Exemption Moratorium ends and that means an endless flood of Internet Taxation that would surely be the Death of the Internet at least in the truest form it was meant to be.

How do you know what it was "meant" to be? Were you there when Al Gore created it?
 

Doboji

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
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Three Words

Hack the Planet

Taxing internet traffic is really pretty much impossible... you can tax ISPs yes... but go ahead and try taxing email, when I buy my own domain name, and setup my own linux email, how are they going to tax me?... hmm?... they can't... how could they even keep a tally of my SMTP or POP3 traffic?... they'd need to upgrade all router technology in order to tally data packets utilizing those protocols. You could very easily tunnel right through that technology as well.

Nonono calm down everyone... all that means, is your access cost will rise slightly.

-Max
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
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Originally posted by: Doboji
Three Words

Hack the Planet

Taxing internet traffic is really pretty much impossible... you can tax ISPs yes... but go ahead and try taxing email, when I buy my own domain name, and setup my own linux email, how are they going to tax me?... hmm?... they can't... how could they even keep a tally of my SMTP or POP3 traffic?... they'd need to upgrade all router technology in order to tally data packets utilizing those protocols. You could very easily tunnel right through that technology as well.

Nonono calm down everyone... all that means, is your access cost will rise slightly.

-Max

Go to Cisco's site, they already have discussions there how they would add "metering" to Routers for billing data packets.
You would be billed & Taxed for usage just like water, electricity, gas , etc.

 

bandana163

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2003
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So ISPs prices will rise due to new higher taxes. Probably nothing else will happen. Like always.
 

Doboji

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
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c
Go to Cisco's site, they already have discussions there how they would add "metering" to Routers for billing data packets.
You would be billed & Taxed for usage just like water, electricity, gas , etc.

The technology is too easy to get around... the only thing they could do was flat tax ALL internet traffic.... it's not going to happen. Calm down. Not to mention the privacy issues involved with the packet snooping you'd have to do.

I can see it now the routers keeping a database of all the datapackets passing over their links... and exchanging MORE traffic to replicate and ensure the accuracy of the data per User.... or would it be per IP address... oh and then what about ISPs who give out DHCP addresses that change?... would you do it by MAC address?... and then does that mean we register NIC cards with the government when we buy them?... and then how do they stop people from NOT registering?.... What about NAT? How do you prevent hackers from generating network traffic from your system, thereby raising your taxes? Sooooo many questions.... soooo many loop holes.... it'll never happen.

-Max

 

XZeroII

Lifer
Jun 30, 2001
12,572
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Ah, speculation. It's so funny how we have only one piece of information...14% tax and that has spawed all this. It's funny when you think about it...
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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Originally posted by: dmcowen674
then there would be taxes on anything purchased anywhere and you would be charged Taxes at both the originated Stae, the destination State and all sorts of points in between.

i seriously doubt the sales tax laws would be any different from current interstate catalog sales tax laws. did you know that you are required to turn in the sales tax for things that you buy interstate that didn't already have tax collected? yup, all that crap from newegg that people buy has sales tax levied on it by their state, but newegg doesn't collect it. that is the customer's responsibility.
 

Crimson

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Oct 11, 1999
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Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Hopefully between today and Friday I can change the Title of this thread but if the 4 Senators that are holding the Permanent Exemption from Taxation for the Internet Bill do not release it before Friday then the Tax Exemption Moratorium ends and that means an endless flood of Internet Taxation that would surely be the Death of the Internet at least in the truest form it was meant to be.

Florida has already been banking that the Moratorium will end and has already been taxing Florida residents 14%.

I've been amazed that Florida residents have not been screaming about this.


Wait, I thought you supported higher taxes? You are criticizing Bush for cutting them, but now your are pissed when they are raised?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!! I thought higher taxes were good!
 

Shelly21

Diamond Member
May 28, 2002
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Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: Shelly21
How are they being taxed? from the phone bills? Sales tax on online sales?

18% Tax is tacked on your ISP Bill, called Florida Communications Tax

Son of a beach, we're already paying communications tax for using telephones.... that single land line for $25 actually comes to $34 something....

Maybe we'll get "used" to it like all the other taxes.....
 

CADsortaGUY

Lifer
Oct 19, 2001
25,162
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Originally posted by: Crimson
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Hopefully between today and Friday I can change the Title of this thread but if the 4 Senators that are holding the Permanent Exemption from Taxation for the Internet Bill do not release it before Friday then the Tax Exemption Moratorium ends and that means an endless flood of Internet Taxation that would surely be the Death of the Internet at least in the truest form it was meant to be.

Florida has already been banking that the Moratorium will end and has already been taxing Florida residents 14%.

I've been amazed that Florida residents have not been screaming about this.


Wait, I thought you supported higher taxes? You are criticizing Bush for cutting them, but now your are pissed when they are raised?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!! I thought higher taxes were good!

Just for the record - I don't think Dave has been too involved in the tax debates or has presented an anti-tax-cut stance. Maybe he has but even so - he's not a flaming liberal. A little whacked at times;) but definately not a flaming liberal:D

But yes - you'd be right for calling a liberal tax raiser on the hypocracy.:) I wonder what Dean, Kerry, Clark's stance on this is.

CkG
 

dmcowen674

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Oct 13, 1999
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Originally posted by: CADkindaGUY
Originally posted by: Crimson
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Hopefully between today and Friday I can change the Title of this thread but if the 4 Senators that are holding the Permanent Exemption from Taxation for the Internet Bill do not release it before Friday then the Tax Exemption Moratorium ends and that means an endless flood of Internet Taxation that would surely be the Death of the Internet at least in the truest form it was meant to be.

Florida has already been banking that the Moratorium will end and has already been taxing Florida residents 14%.

I've been amazed that Florida residents have not been screaming about this.


Wait, I thought you supported higher taxes? You are criticizing Bush for cutting them, but now your are pissed when they are raised?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!! I thought higher taxes were good!

Just for the record - I don't think Dave has been too involved in the tax debates or has presented an anti-tax-cut stance. Maybe he has but even so - he's not a flaming liberal. A little whacked at times;) but definately not a flaming liberal:D

But yes - you'd be right for calling a liberal tax raiser on the hypocracy.:) I wonder what Dean, Kerry, Clark's stance on this is.

CkG

Thanks CAD.

Not a Flaming Liberal and Not an Insane Conservative either, definately whacked.

I'm whacked for being down the middle and for common sense, it seems just like with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer with the march towards the elimination of the Middle class, that people have to be either an all out flaming Liberal or an out Neo-Conservative, again extremes.

Originally posted by: rjain
Dave isn't a flaming liberal, no. He's just an apocalypic eschatolagist. :)

I had never heard that word Eschatology before.

I'm not that extreme either but thanks rjain.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Well, I'll start saying my Goodbyes, I'm sure many of you won't miss me anyway.

Congress let the ban on Taxation of the Internet expire yesterday so:

LET THE TAXATION BEGIN

the light is on, you're still here