H. Con. Res. 190 Agreed to November 19, 1999

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine

Concurrent Resolution

Whereas electronic commerce is not bound by geography and its

borders are not easily discernible;

Whereas transmissions over the Internet are made through packetswitching, making it impossible to determine with any degree

of certainty the precise geographic route or endpoints of specific

Internet transmissions and infeasible to separate domestic from

foreign Internet transmissions;

Whereas inconsistent and inadministrable taxes imposed on Internet activity by subnational and national governments threaten

not only to subject consumers, businesses, and other users

engaged in interstate and foreign commerce to multiple, confusing, and burdensome taxation, but also to restrict the growth

and continued technological maturation of the Internet itself;

Whereas the complexity of the issue of domestic taxation of electronic commerce is compounded when considered at the global

level with almost 200 separate national governments;

Whereas the First Annual Report of the United States Government

Working Group on Electronic Commerce found that fewer than

10,000,000 people worldwide were using the Internet in 1995,

that more than 140,000,000 people worldwide were using the

Internet in 1998, and that more than 1,000,000,000 people worldwide will be using the Internet in the first decade of the next

century;

Whereas information technology industries have accounted for more

than one-third of real growth in the United States’ Gross Domestic

Product over the past 3 years;

Whereas information technology industries employ more than

7,000,000 people in the United States, and by 2006 more than

half of the United States workforce is expected to be employed

in industries that are either major producers or intensive users

of information technology products and services;

Whereas electronic commerce among businesses worldwide is

expected to grow from $43,000,000,000 in 1998 to more than

$1,300,000,000,000 by 2003, and electronic retail sales to consumers worldwide are expected to grow from $8,000,000,000 in

1998 to more than $108,000,000,000 by 2003;

Whereas the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 enacted a policy

against special, multiple, and discriminatory taxation of the Internet and electronic commerce, and stated that United States policy

should be to seek bilateral, regional, and multilateral agreements

to remove barriers to global electronic commerce;
H. Con. Res. 190—2

Whereas the World Trade Organization, at its May 1998 ministerial

conference, adopted a declaration that all 132 member countries

‘‘will continue their current practice of not imposing customs

duties on electronic transmissions’’;

Whereas the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and industry groups issued a joint declaration at an October

1998 ministerial meeting on global electronic commerce opposing

special, multiple, and discriminatory taxation of the electronic

commerce and the Internet;

Whereas the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development has stated that neutrality, efficiency, certainty, simplicity, effectiveness, fairness, and

flexibility are the broad principles that should govern the taxation

of electronic commerce;

Whereas the United States has issued joint statements on electronic

commerce with Australia, the European Union, France, Ireland,

Japan, and the Republic of Korea opposing special, multiple,

and discriminatory taxation of electronic commerce; and

Whereas a July 1999 United Nations Report on Human Development urged world governments to impose ‘‘bit taxes’’ on electronic

transmissions, raising concerns that United States policy against

special, multiple, and discriminatory taxation of the Internet

may be undermined: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress—

(1) urges the President to seek a global consensus

supporting—

(A) a permanent international ban on tariffs on electronic commerce; and

(B) an international ban on bit, multiple, and discriminatory taxation of electronic commerce and the Internet;

(2) urges the President to instruct the United States delegation to the November 1999 World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Seattle, Washington to seek to make permanent

and binding the moratorium on tariffs on electronic transmissions adopted by the World Trade Organization in May

1998;

(3) urges the President to seek adoption by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and

implementation by the group’s 29 member countries, of an

international ban on bit, multiple, and discriminatory taxation

of electronic commerce and the Internet; and
H. Con. Res. 190—3

(4) urges the President to oppose any proposal by any

country, the United Nations, or any other multilateral organization to establish a ‘‘bit tax’’ on electronic transmissions.

Attest:

Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Attest:

Secretary of the Senate.