Images de page
PDF
ePub

(2)

(i) 5 individuals appointed by the Majority Leader of the Senate;

(ii) 3 individuals appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate;

(iii) 5 individuals appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and

(iv) 3 individuals appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

APPOINTMENTS.-Appointments to the Commission shall be made not later than 45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. The chairperson shall be selected not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(3) VACANCIES.-Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(c) ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS AND GRANTS.-The Commission may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or grants of services or property, both real and personal, for purposes of aiding or facilitating the work of the Commission. Gifts or grants not used at the expiration of the Commission shall be returned to the donor or grantor.

(d) OTHER RESOURCES.-The Commission shall have reasonable access to materials, resources, data, and other information from the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. The Commission shall also have reasonable access to use the facilities of any such Department or Office for purposes of conducting meetings.

(e) SUNSET.-The Commission shall terminate 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

[merged small][ocr errors]

(1) QUORUM.-Nine members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for conducting the business of the Commission.

(2) MEETINGS.-Any meetings held by the Commission shall be duly noticed at least 14 days in advance and shall be open to the public.

(3) OPPORTUNITIES TO TESTIFY.-The Commission shall provide opportunities for representatives of the general public, taxpayer groups, consumer groups, and State and local government officials to testify.

(4) ADDITIONAL RULES.-The Commission may adopt other rules as needed.

(g) DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.—

(1) IN GENERAL.-The Commission shall conduct a thorough study of Federal, State and local, and international taxation and tariff treatment of transactions using the Internet and Internet access and other comparable intrastate, interstate or international sales activities.

(2) ISSUES TO BE STUDIED.-The Commission may include in the study under subsection (a) —

(A) an examination of

(i) barriers imposed in foreign markets on United States providers of property, goods, services, or infor

mation engaged in electronic commerce and on United States providers of telecommunications services; and

(ii) how the imposition of such barriers will affect United States consumers, the competitiveness of United States citizens providing property, goods, services, or information in foreign markets, and the growth and maturing of the Internet;

(B) an examination of the collection and administration of consumption taxes on electronic commerce in other countries and the United States, and the impact of such collection on the global economy, including an examination of the relationship between the collection and administration of such taxes when the transaction uses the Internet and when it does not;

(C) an examination of the impact of the Internet and Internet access (particularly voice transmission) on the revenue base for taxes imposed under section 4251 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

(D) an examination of model State legislation that—

(i) would provide uniform definitions of categories of property, goods, service, or information subject to or exempt from sales and use taxes; and

(ii) would ensure that Internet access services, online services, and communications and transactions using the Internet, Internet access service, or online services would be treated in a tax and technologically neutral manner relative to other forms of remote sales;

(E) an examination of the effects of taxation, including the absence of taxation, on all interstate sales transactions, including transactions using the Internet, on retail businesses and on State and local governments, which examination may include a review of the efforts of State and local governments to collect sales and use taxes owed on in-State purchases from out-of-State sellers; and

(F) the examination of ways to simplify Federal and State and local taxes imposed on the provision of telecommunications services.

(3) EFFECT ON THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.-Nothing in this section shall include an examination of any fees or charges imposed by the Federal Communications Commission or States related to

(A) obligations under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); or

(B) the implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (or of amendments made by that Act).

(h) NATIONAL TAX ASSOCIATION COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE TAX PROJECT.-The Commission shall, to the extent possible, ensure that its work does not undermine the efforts of the National Tax Association Communications and Electronic Commerce Tax Project.

SEC. 1103. REPORT.

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall transmit to Congress for its consideration a report reflecting the results, including such legislative recommendations as required to address the findings of the Commission's study under this title. Any recommendation agreed to by the Commission shall be tax and technologically neutral and apply to all forms of remote commerce. No finding or recommendation shall be included in the report unless agreed to by at least twothirds of the members of the Commission serving at the time the finding or recommendation is made.

SEC. 1104. DEFINITIONS.

For the purposes of this title:

(1) BIT TAX.-The term "bit tax" means any tax on electronic commerce expressly imposed on or measured by the volume of digital information transmitted electronically, or the volume of digital information per unit of time transmitted electronically, but does not include taxes imposed on the provision of telecommunications services.

(2) DISCRIMINATORY TAX.-The term "discriminatory tax"

means

(A) any tax imposed by a State or political subdivision thereof on electronic commerce that—

(i) is not generally imposed and legally collectible by such State or such political subdivision on transactions involving similar property, goods, services, or information accomplished through other means;

(ii) is not generally imposed and legally collectible at the same rate by such State or such political subdivision on transactions involving similar property, goods, services, or information accomplished through other means, unless the rate is lower as part of a phase-out of the tax over not more than a 5-year period;

(iii) imposes an obligation to collect or pay the tax on a different person or entity than in the case of transactions involving similar property, goods, services, or information accomplished through other

means;

(iv) establishes a classification of Internet access service providers or online service providers for purposes of establishing a higher tax rate to be imposed on such providers than the tax rate generally applied to providers of similar information services delivered through other means; or

(B) any tax imposed by a State or political subdivision thereof, if—

(i) except with respect to a tax (on Internet access) that was generally imposed and actually enforced prior to October 1, 1998, the sole ability to access a site on a remote seller's out-of-State computer server is considered a factor in determining a remote seller's tax collection obligation; or

(ii) a provider of Internet access service or online services is deemed to be the agent of a remote seller for determining tax collection obligations solely as a result of

(I) the display of a remote seller's information or content on the out-of-State computer server of a provider of Internet access service or online services; or

(II) the processing of orders through the outof-State computer server of a provider of Internet access service or online services.

(3) ELECTRONIC COMMERCE.-The term "electronic commerce" means any transaction conducted over the Internet or through Internet access, comprising the sale, lease, license, offer, or delivery of property, goods, services, or information, whether or not for consideration, and includes the provision of Internet access.

(4) INTERNET.-The term "Internet" means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.

(5) INTERNET ACCESS.-The term "Internet access" means a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, or other services offered over the Internet, and may also include access to proprietary content, information, and other services as part of a package of services offered to users. Such term does not include telecommunications services. (6) MULTIPLE TAX.—

(A) IN GENERAL.-The term "multiple tax" means any tax that is imposed by one State or political subdivision thereof on the same or essentially the same electronic commerce that is also subject to another tax imposed by another State or political subdivision thereof (whether or not at the same rate or on the same basis), without a credit (for example, a resale exemption certificate) for taxes paid in other jurisdictions.

(B) EXCEPTION. Such term shall not include a sales or use tax imposed by a State and 1 or more political subdivisions thereof on the same electronic commerce or a tax on persons engaged in electronic commerce which also may have been subject to a sales or use tax thereon.

(C) SALES OR USE TAX.-For purposes of subparagraph (B), the term "sales or use tax" means a tax that is imposed on or incident to the sale, purchase, storage, consumption, distribution, or other use of tangible personal property or services as may be defined by laws imposing such tax and which is measured by the amount of the sales price or other charge for such property or service. (7) STATE.-The term "State" means any of the several States, the District of Columbia, or any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.

(8) TAX.

(A) IN GENERAL.-The term "tax" means—

(i) any charge imposed by any governmental entity for the purpose of generating revenues for governmental purposes, and is not a fee imposed for a specific privilege, service, or benefit conferred; or

(ii) the imposition on a seller of an obligation to collect and to remit to a governmental entity any sales or use tax imposed on a buyer by a governmental entity.

(B) EXCEPTION.-Such term does not include any franchise fee or similar fee imposed by a State or local franchising authority, pursuant to section 622 or 653 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 542, 573), or any other fee related to obligations or telecommunications carriers under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). (9) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.-The term "telecommunications service" has the meaning given such term in section 3(46) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(46)) and includes communications services (as defined in section 4251 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).

(10) TAX ON INTERNET ACCESS.-The term "tax on Internet access" means a tax on Internet access, including the enforcement or application of any new or preexisting tax on the sale or use of Internet services unless such tax was generally imposed and actually enforced prior to October 1, 1998.

TITLE XII-OTHER PROVISIONS

SEC. 1201. DECLARATION THAT INTERNET SHOULD BE FREE OF NEW FEDERAL TAXES.

It is the sense of Congress that no new Federal taxes similar to the taxes described in section 1101(a) should be enacted with respect to the Internet and Internet access during the moratorium provided in such section.

SEC. 1202. NATIONAL TRADE ESTIMATE.

Section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2241) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)(1)

(A) in subparagraph (A)—

(i) by striking "and" at the end of clause (i);

(ii) by inserting "and" at the end of clause (ii); and (iii) by inserting after clause (ii) the following new clause:

"(iii) United States electronic commerce,"; and
(B) in subparagraph (C)—

(i) by striking "and" at the end of clause (i);
(ii) by inserting "and" at the end of clause (ii);

(iii) by inserting after clause (ii) the following new clause:

"(iii) the value of additional United States electronic commerce,”; and

« PrécédentContinuer »