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OWENS:
EXTEND INTERNET TAX MORATORIUM
“No Taxation Without Representation”
DENVER
– Governor Bill Owens today urged Congress to extend the moratorium on
Internet taxation declaring “there should be no taxation without
representation.”
Owens,
one of only a handful of governors who publicly oppose taxing Internet
transactions, sent a letter to every member of the U.S. House of Representatives
and the U.S. Senate urging the extension of the moratorium which expires in
October. Forty-three governors who
support taxing the Internet sent a letter to Congress last week seeking to lift
the moratorium.
“Some—including
most of my fellow governors—argue that the moratorium hinders local tax
collection efforts and supercedes states’ rights,” Owens wrote to Congress.
“The debate over the taxation of the Internet isn’t about feeding the
already well-lined coffers of government.”
“It’s
about the fundamentally American idea that there should be no taxation without
representation.”
Owens
also addressed the argument that Main Street businesses are at a disadvantage.
“While
there is no evidence that Main Street firms have lost business due to tax
differentials, that is beside the point,” Owens wrote to Congress.
“The answer to these concerns should not be to raise taxes on the
Internet, but to lower taxes on Main Street businesses.”
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last modified August 21, 2001
