Citizens Against Government Waste warns Uncle Sam to keep his hands off Internet commerce

(Washington, D.C.) – At a news conference this morning, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), America’s largest taxpayer watchdog organization, joined Rep. John Kasich (R-Ohio) and other taxpayer advocacy groups in calling for a bureaucrat-free and tax-free Internet.  Following are the remarks of CAGW President Thomas A. Schatz:

"High tech companies are at the vanguard of America's current economic growth.  The explosion of the Internet has been truly phenomenal.  Left to its own devices, big government would unwittingly kill the goose that laid these golden eggs.  Taxation and regulation of high tech industries and

e-commerce is exactly the wrong thing to do.

“There is a litany of high tech horror stories inside Washington, including the failure of the Internal Revenue Service’s $4 billion computer modernization effort, the costly last-ditch attempt to achieve Y2K compliance, and the misguided antitrust crusade against successful companies.  These are not the people we want taxing and regulating this vibrant industry.  Any taxes on Internet sales would require a massive bureaucracy to monitor and collect the tax.  Enforcement of Internet taxes could give bureaucrats the ability to invade the private communications and transactions that are now unfettered throughout electronic commerce.

“American consumers do not want Big Brother taxing their e-commerce.  Trying to tax the Internet is like trying to tax a garage sale – it can’t be done, and it would require resources that would far outweigh any return.  Any interference from governments at any level will only serve to hinder the burgeoning e-commerce market.  The free market must continue to be the driving force in the nation’s astonishing economic success.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.