Well, it was only a matter of time, wasn't it? It seems a California official is breathing new life into the argument that ‘since most everything else is taxed’, why then he asks, is email exempt!
Berkley City Councilman Gordon Wozniak brought up taxing
emails during a recent council meeting. His thinking was that the taxes collected
could be used for stuff like saving the local post office. Gordon is currently
suggesting that the tax be tiny, initially at least.
There have also been suggestions that this seedling of an
idea could be rapidly expanded to tap into all data that a person uses
including heftier amounts in the area of e-commerce. Sort of like a sin tax
without the sin.
His plan is not really new. It was addressed back in 1998
and resulted in the passage of the Internet
Tax Freedom Act, which bans Internet taxation. However, that law is set to
expire in November, a fact that our cash strapped Federal Government is well
aware of.
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Personally, I think this is a great idea as it would allow for Washington to find some much needed relief for programs
that the Sequester Act has currently slowed down. If the amounts of taxes for
data could be raised high enough, then perhaps some of the monies could be used
to form a new entitlement program or two, who knows. In either case, taxing a
person by the volume of data they use would hopefully slow down those who
overuse the Internet for personal gain while slowing it down for the poor who
don’t use it as much. And, that not fair or very progressive.
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