Their ill-advised plan would pave the way for one of the largest expansions of state taxing power in U.S. history. Telecommunications providers, Internet service providers, publishers and large multistate retailers would reap practically all the benefits from that deal. Interestingly, all the companies pushing the plan fit into one of those categories. Smaller retailers and consumers would get nothing but headaches and new taxes.
Shareholders take note.
The companies that drafted the proposal may be tech savvy, but they're shockingly na ve when it comes to politics. Their one substantive policy request is for repeal of the federal excise tax on telecommunications. But Congress could care less what the ACEC says with respect to federal taxes. In any event, the commission would likely have recommended repeal even without this devil's bargain. The politicians realize that at the end of the day the only thing Congress and the public will remember about the ACEC is that it voted to tax electronic commerce.