Stakeholders and others were quick to weigh in after the House passed a permanent moratorium on Internet access taxes.
Sena Fitzmaurice, VP of government communications, for Comcast urged the Senate to follow suit.
“Today's vote reflects strong bipartisan support to protect all Americans from paying extra state and local taxes just to access the Internet," she said in a statement. "A majority in both the House and Senate support the moratorium on taxing Internet access to protect consumers from unwanted new taxes. We applaud this positive step taken by the House today and urge the Senate to act before the November 1st expiration of the current moratorium.”
“We appreciate Chairman [Bob] Goodlatte’s leadership in the effort to pass PITFA [the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act], which will help keep the Internet affordable and Americans connected," said Jot Carpenter, VP of government affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association. "We hope the Senate moves expeditiously to follow suit and alleviate provider and consumer uncertainty driven by the moratorium’s looming expiration."
ISP CenturyLink was understandably pleased.
“CenturyLink commends the House of Representatives for passing legislation that protects consumers and keeps Internet access tax free," said executive VP for public policy Steve Davis. "Without permanent extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, thousands of state and local jurisdictions could start levying new taxes on Internet access or bandwidth use, which could discourage broadband adoption and limit broadband investment. We look forward to working with the Senate to pass the companion bill and to seeing this important legislation enacted soon.”
