William F. Smith: “the current moratorium on Internet taxation is soon set to expire. Someone once said that the three greatest discoveries…”

“the current moratorium on Internet taxation is soon set to expire. Someone once said that the three greatest discoveries of humankind are fire, the wheel, and the integrated circuit. Each of these discoveries ushered in a new era of human development and advancement. And although the integrated circuit is only 50 years old, it has changed the world. The integrated circuit and its offspring, the Internet, have played dominant roles in transforming our lives for the better. Even though America has seen a dramatic increase in the number of homes wired to the Internet, last month the Department of Commerce released a report showing that e-commerce actually has decreased in the second quarter of this year. Internet commerce is still relatively new and has yet to reach its full potential. The imposition of taxes would threaten the future growth of e-commerce, would discourage companies and consumers from using the Internet to conduct business, and would create regional and international barriers to global trade. On the other hand, of course, we do need to recognize the legitimate concerns of States that want to have the option of taxing sales. But failure to renew an extended moratorium will tell the high-tech sector of our economy that it is open season for Internet taxes and send a message to local and State tax authorities that new, multiple, and discriminatory Internet taxes may be imposed. We do not want to do that.”