WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The National League of Cities is urging the U.S. Senate to oppose the Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act because it would hurt local taxing authority.
"Our position is not an attempt to tax e-mail or impose any new tax on the Internet, as some have claimed," Donald Borut, executive director of the NLC, said in a statement released Saturday.
"By expanding the scope of the Internet tax moratorium to include telecommunications services that are used to access the Internet, the bill S. 150 could eliminate those services from local taxes."
The NLC wants senators to adopt a two-year extension of the existing Internet tax moratorium to allow Congress, industry and state and local governments time to negotiate an appropriate definition of "Internet access."
"S. 150 is a very real threat to traditional municipal taxing authority," said Borut. "This bill will unnecessarily expand the scope of the existing Internet tax moratorium by curtailing certain state and local telecommunications taxes under the definition of tax-free Internet access."
