Summary of Bills Pertaining to
Internet Taxes
in the 106th Congress

This page summarizes the following bills:

• S 328, an untitled bill which would make permanant the moratorium on the imposition of new taxes on the Internet (Bob Smith).
• S 1433, a bill to impose a 5% national tax on sales over the Internet or by direct mail (Hollings).
• S 1611, an untitled bill to make permanent the moratorium on Internet taxes, and to expand the scope to include sales and use taxes (McCain).
• HR 3252, the Internet Tax Elimination Act (Kasich).
• HConRes 190, (Cox).
• SConRes 58, (Wyden).
• HR ___, Internet Non-Discrimination Act (Cox).
• S 2082, Internet Non-Discrimination Act (Wyden).

S 328

Sponsor. Sen. Bob Smith (I-NH). No cosponsors.

Summary. This is a very short and simple bill. It would make permanent the moratorium on the imposition of taxes on the Internet.

In October 1998 the Congress passed, and the President signed, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which included the Internet Tax Freedom Act. This imposed a three year moratorium on the imposition of new discriminatory taxes on the Internet.

Status. This bill was introduced on January 28, 1999. No action has been taken.

Legislative History with Links to Related Materials.

• 1/28/99. S 328 IS introduced in the Senate. (See, Statement of Sen. Smith.)
• 1/28/99. S 328 referred to the Senate Commerce Committee.

S 1433

Sponsor. Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC). Cosponsors: None.

Summary. S 1433 IS would impose a national retail sales tax on Internet sales, to be collected by the IRS.

The bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code by adding a new subchapter which provides, in part that:

"There is hereby imposed on the first retail sale of merchandise effected via the Internet, by mail order through a catalog, or by direct sales other than through a local merchant, a tax equal to 5 percent of the price for which so sold."

Status. This bill was introduced on July 26, 1999. No action has been taken.

Legislative History with Links to Related Materials.

• 7/26/99. S 1433 IS introduced in the Senate. See, TLJ Story.
• 7/26/99. S 1433 referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

S 1611

Sponsor. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Cosponsors. John Ashcroft (R-MO).

Summary. S 1611 IS would make permanent the Internet Tax Freedom Act's three year ban on new Internet taxes. It would also add "sales or use taxes for domestic or foreign goods or services acquired through electronic commerce" to the list of prohibited taxes.

Legislative History with Links to Related Materials.

• 9/22/99. S 1611 IS introduced in the Senate. See, Tech Law Journal story.
• 9/22/99. S 1611 referred to the Senate Commerce Committee.

HR 3252, the Internet Tax Elimination Act

Sponsor. Rep. John Kasich (R-OH). Original Cosponsor. Rep. John Boehner. Additional Cosponsors. Larry Combest, George Gekas (R-PA), Sue Myrick (R-NC), Mike Oxley (R-OH), and John Sununu (R-NH).

Summary.

Status. This bill was introduced on November 8, 1999.

Legislative History with Links to Related Materials.

• 11/8/00. HR 3252 IH introduced in the House.
• 11/8/00. HR 3252 referred to the Judiciary Committee and Ways and Means Committee.

Sponsor. Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA). Original cosponsor. Pete Sessions (R-TX). Additional Cosponsors. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), Merrill Cook (R-UT), Ron Packard (R-CA), Dick Armey (R-TX), Mike Oxley (R-OH), Jack Metcalf (R-WA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Carolyn McCarthy (D-MO), Larry Combest (R-TX), Phil English (R-PA), Christopher John (D-LA), and Steve Kuykendall (R-CA).

Summary. This resolution, which is informally called the Global Internet Tax Freedom Act, calls for a permanent moratorium on global Internet e-commerce tariffs, a ban on multiple, discriminatory, and special Internet taxes, and a condemnation of the U.N. proposal that nations impose a bit tax.

Status. This resolution was introduced on September 30, 1999. It was adopted by the House on October 26 by a vote of 423 to 1. It was then adopted by the Senate on November 19 by unanimous consent.

S. Con. Res. 58

Sponsor. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Cosponsors. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Max Baucus (D-MT), John Ashcroft (R-MO).

Summary. This is the Senate version of H. Con. Res. 190.

Status. The Senate approved the identical H. Con. Res. 190 on November 19.

HR __, Internet Non-Discrimination Act.

Sponsor. Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA).

Summary. The bill would make permanent the existing three year moratorium on new discriminatory Internet taxes. There is just one substantive clause in the bill. It reads:

"Section 1101(a) of title XI of division C of Public Law 105-277 is amended by striking ‘‘during the period beginning on October 1, 1998, and ending 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘on or after October 1, 1998’’."

Status. This bill was introduced on February 3, 2000.

Legislative History with Links to Related Materials.

• 2/3/00. HR __ IH introduced in the House. See also:
  • Statement of Rep. Cox at press conference.
  • Press release of Rep. Cox.
  • Statement of Sen. Wyden at press conference.
  • Tech Law Journal Story.

S 2082, Internet Non-Discrimination Act.

Sponsor. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Initial Cosponsors. Spencer Abraham (R-MI) and Pat Leahy (D-VT).

Summary. This is the Senate companion bill to HR ____.

Status. This bill was introduced on February 3, 2000.

Legislative History with Links to Related Materials.

• 2/3/00. S 2082 IS introduced in the House. See also:
  • Transcript of statement at press conference by Sen. Wyden.
  • Statement in Congressional Record by Sen. Wyden.
  • Statement in Congressional Record by Sen. Abraham.
  • Tech Law Journal Story.
• 2/3/00. S 2082 referred to the Senate Commerce Committee.