by help, i'm surrounded by liberals

Created on: June 08, 2008

Should you be taxed for using the Internet?

I believe taxing the internet for business use, is a potential revenue source for local, state or federal government. There are many people who sell things on the internet, that do not have business licenses, while people who actually own or operate out of bricks and mortar are required to possess one.

The internet has encouraged people to operate everything from small businesses to extremely big businesses, without having to report any income. I think companies like PayPal, and e-bay should require sellers who earn over $20,000, to have some sort of a local, state or federal "internet" business license. To be honest, who knows what kind of "tax loopholes" the internet has opened up, it allows global merchants to operate by different rules than people who are selling out of one place. A company can have a sales office in several countries, a physical goods delivery warehouse in a tax free state, and their business headquarters offshore for all we know. In California, we have a sales tax, that several surrounding states don't have. Who knows if unregulated internet companies should be paying more in sales tax, or if regulation is possible in this instance? The only person I have heard mention on this topic, is Steve Westley who briefly touched on this a few years ago, in a Commonwealth Club lecture.

As far as taxing individuals for simply using the internet. I don't think that is a very appealing idea to anyone. I know that cable companies such as Comcast,who provide both cable and internet services have in the past, been required to pay a utility tax in some area's of the state, such as unincorporated Hayward, and the money goes to fund the sheriff's department. I don't know if local governments think this a good or viable revenue source for them or not.

In addition, I have been a supporter of the porn tax for several years now. In California, we seem to be forever picking on alcohol and tobacco companies to get revenue, though sometimes I think we go way too far. Believe me, I quit smoking when I heard how much cigarettes were going to cost. Just a few years ago, I heard they were going to put a two dollar tax on a pack of cigarettes. Our government spends money trying to regulate the porn industry. Government could fund the regulatory agency that oversee's "internet porn" better or increase state revenues by requiring porn sites to register their sites, while charging them a special permit fee, or a small tax. I mean really, nothing over a hundred bucks.

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