The House passed a bill extending the moratorium on Internet access taxes by seven years, putting the period on par with a recently passed Senate bill and sending the bill to President Bush for his signature.
The House passed the bill by a 402-0 vote. An earlier version of the bill passed by the House had called for only a four-year period (see
Some legislators would still like to see a permanent ban on Internet access taxes. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., said that he would still try for a permanent moratorium. "It's great to see Congress act on time for a change and take an enormous step for Internet tax freedom, banning access taxes and protecting e-mails and instant messaging for the next seven years," he said in a statement. "I will continue to fight for a permanent ban on access taxes, but this is a strong step forward. Taxing the Internet is wrong for consumers and wrong for the economy."
The bill applies only to taxes on Internet access, not to purchases made over the Internet.
