The Senate Votes To Keep Internet Access Tax Free

T he next time you surf the Internet, make sure you drop a note of thanks to your senator. Wired News is reporting that the Senate has voted to retain the ban on taxing access to the Internet for another 4 years. From the article:

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to restore a ban on taxing Internet connections for four years, stopping short of the permanent ban approved by the House.

The two chambers will try to work out their differences over an issue that pits a U.S. telecommunications industry trying to expand a range of services against state and local governments worried they could lose billions of dollars in tax revenue.

Congress first blocked state and local taxes on the services that connect consumers to the Internet in 1998. The ban lapsed while lawmakers tried to rewrite it and cover new high-speed and wireless connections, generally known as broadband.

The Senate settled its differences Thursday, voting 93 to 3 to restore the tax ban for 4 years.

"This bill will ensure that consumers will never have to pay a toll when they access the information highway," said Senate Commerce Committee John McCain, R-Ariz. "Plainly and simply, this is a pro-consumer, pro-innovation and pro-technology bill."

Read the full article at Wired News.