From: Alan Olsen <alano@teleport.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 07:59:00 +0800
To: NetSurfer <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: ****Tacoma, Washington Starts Taxing Internet Access 07/30/96
Message-ID: <2.2.32.19960805181729.00e8c4a0@mail.teleport.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 05:42 AM 8/5/96 -1000, NetSurfer wrote:
>
>On Wed, 31 Jul 1996, Joseph M. Reagle Jr. wrote:
>
>>   	  				 
>> >WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1996 JUL 30 (NB) -- By Bill Pietrucha.  
>> >Tacoma, Washington, has just gained the distinction of being the 
>> >only municipality in the United States to tax Internet Access 
>> >providers (IAPs) like telephone service providers. 
>> >
>
>Hawaii has been taxing this (and everything else incl. collected 
>taxes, food & medical) for years :-( calling it a "general excise tax"

I believe the reason the Tacoma ordinance is getting so much flack is that
they are wanting to charge sales tax on all transactions that take place
from ISPs in Tacoma.

This type of taxation is not new.  Various jurisdictions have tried to use
the same thing on mail order houses.  Having worked for a service bureau
that dealt with mail order, I know what a hassle it is to try to keep track
of such taxation.  There is a company that will sell you the data of all of
the sales tax rates throughout the country.  This includes every little
podunk city, county, and fire district tax.  They are divided by zip code,
but that is no guarantees that you have the right place. The reality is that
trying to "be legal" under such regulations is next to impossible, even with
the proper data.  I know of few mail order firms that are willing to go to
that extreme.  (Unless, of course, they have gotten the proper threats from
some miffed tax baron.)

And they wonder why there is so much disrespect for the law...
---
Alan Olsen -- alano@teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction
        `finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key 
                http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ 
  "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon
                "Microsoft -- Nothing but NT promises."