Conservative group redoubles effort on Internet taxes

A grassroots conservative group said Tuesday it was stepping up its efforts to get a bill permanently barring taxes on Internet access to President Obama’s desk.

The National Taxpayers Union said it would be urging the Senate to pass a permanent version of the Internet Tax Freedom Act before the current temporary version expires at the end of September. 

{mosads}The House passed a permanent measure to ban states from taxing broadband access in June.

“Raising the cost of getting online could force many people to cut their service, limiting the vital web resources that they have grown to rely on for education, e-commerce, and medical advice,” said Pete Sepp, the NTU’s president. 

“By passing a permanent stand-alone Internet tax moratorium, Congress can land itself a big win, while giving an even bigger win to American consumers.”

The Internet Tax Freedom Act has broad backing on both sides of the aisle. But supporters have had trouble getting a permanent version passed in part because champions of a bill giving states more latitude to tax online purchases have tried to link the two measures.