The House passed the Wireless Tax Fairness Act Tuesday, which imposes a five-year moratorium on taxes on wireless service, a tax rate legislators have said now averages about 16.3%, or more than double that on other goods and services.
Reining-in taxes plays to the Republican side of the aisle, while boosting the attractiveness of wireless helps out with the Obama Administration's push for wireless as a driver of mobile broadband adoption, which is why the bill has numerous co-sponsors from both parties.
The Bill was introduced in the House -- at the same time a Senate version was also introduced -- by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.).
Economist Ev Ehrlich, president of ESC Company and former Under-Secretary of Commerce under President BIll Clinton, praised passage.
"Today's House passage of the Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2011 shows that good ideas can still get bipartisan support," he said in a statement. "Wireless services, including mobile broadband, are changing the way Americans work, earn, and live -- subjecting them to special and extraordinary taxes makes no sense."
