The National Governors Association (NGA) has criticized a proposal by US Congressman John Kasich to expand and make permanent a federal moratorium on internet taxes. The Association is a taxpayer-supported group representing the governors of the 50 states, and it is the states which stand to lose the most from a permanent ban on e-commerce tariffs. Kasich unveiled his plan at a Washington news conference held in association with a group of right-wing think tanks, the e-Freedom Coalition.
The coalition says it has identified five tax-related barriers to internet access including the federal 3% excise tax on telecoms, internet tolls, high state and local telecoms taxes and internet access taxes. It calls for these barriers to be torn down, to the evident alarm of the state governors. Ron Nehring, director of national campaigns for Americans for Tax Reform and a member of the coalition, rejected the criticism leveled by the NGA. In perhaps the most bizarre example of pretzel-logic seen to date, the NGA actually claims that banning taxation in cyberspace would hurt consumers, Nehring said. The next thing you know they’ll be saying that a sale at the corner grocery is bad for shoppers.
