October 18, 2001 Congress Fails to Extend Internet Tax Ban Congress has failed to find common ground on the question of e-fairness, as legislators were unable to pass a bill that would extend the current moratorium on Internet access taxes and any new taxes on Internet commerce. The current ban expires on October 21, 2001. However, it's expected that Congress will address the question again in its current session, though many see national priorities as having shifted against a backdrop of ongoing war in Afghanistan and national anthrax attacks. The issues surrounding the extension of the moratorium have spurred ongoing negotiations for several months. At the 11th hour, the most complex issue remained the question of how to create a more equitable system of sales tax collection on Internet sales. While competing bills introduced in the Senate by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and by Senator Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) extended the moratorium until October 21, 2003, and June 30, 2002, respectively, neither bill would enable states that simplified sales tax regulations to collect sales tax on Internet sales. On October 16, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would simply extend the moratorium until November 1, 2003. On October 18, an effort by Dorgan to gain a "unanimous consent" of the Senate to simply extend the moratorium for eight months was unsuccessful. Leveling the playing field between bricks-and-mortar stores and e-commerce retailers has been a critical issue for many groups, including the e-Fairness Coalition and the National Governors' Association. ABA and a number of the regional booksellers associations, as well as many other retailers and businesses nationwide, are members of the e-Fairness Coalition. The issue is critical for state elected officials, as a recent study has found that state and local governments will lose $13.3 billion in revenue this year, because of an inability to collect sales taxes on e-commerce sales. The study noted that the figure was 41 percent higher than previous estimates and projected that annual revenue losses would reach $45.2 billion by 2006. Irrespective of the congressional debate, many elected officials and others reiterated that no federal legislation prevented any state from enforcing current state laws requiring retailers within the state to collect sales tax on sales of a company's online branch. Oren Teicher, ABA COO, told BTW that "while we certainly support the efforts of the e-Fairness Coalition and others, ABA continues to believe that regardless of whether or not the moratorium is extended, state and local governments should enforce existing laws. No level of government should favor one form of retailing over another." Look for continuing coverage of the e-fairness issue at www.BookWeb.org. -Dan Cullen Topics: Fair Trade Practices, Sales Tax Initiative, News - Bookselling,