Hi all, Forwarded message:

Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 11:26:59 -0400 From: "Joseph M. Reagle Jr." <reagle@rpcp.mit.edu> Subject: ****Tacoma, Washington Starts Taxing Internet Access 07/30/96

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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.

Somebody needs to do their homework. Austin, TX has been taxing ISP's for at least a year now. A recent Internet Provider meeting on this issue resulted in a return to ISP's of a goodly amound of their taxes because of various issues (read that I didn't go to meeting, I don't run an ISP but a SOHO consultancy w/ Internet services).

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The city of Tacoma has extended its six percent gross receipts tax on telecommunications services to include Internet services, Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) spokesperson Bob Cohen told Newsbytes.

I have to pay the state 8.25% interest on any funds my customers deliver to me.

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If other cities attempted to follow Tacoma's lead in taxing IAPs, Miler said, it could cause the "Balkanization of the Internet, a hodgepodge of confusing, conflicting, and difficult to administer Internet tax rules and regulations.

Agreed. Jim Choate