DMA URGES SENATE TO MAKE INTERNET TAX MORATORIUM PERMANENT
NEW YORK, October 31, 2003 - The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) today called on the Senate to quickly pass a bill that would make the Internet Tax Moratorium, which is set to expire on November 1st, permanent. The current moratorium, known as the Internet Tax Freedom Act, prevents taxes on Internet access; double taxation of Web purchases; and discriminatory taxes that treat online sales differently from offline sales.
"As the Wall Street Journal said in an editorial this Wednesday, these bans are working just as the bill's original authors, Congressman Chris Cox of California and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, intended: Internet use and electronic commerce are growing rapidly, while the digital divide continues to close," said Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president, government affairs, The DMA. "Making the Internet Tax Moratorium permanent will undoubtedly allow the Internet to continue to grow as a vehicle for global communication, education, and commerce, and is essential if we want to keep America at the forefront of this still-emerging technology."
"Internet access must not be held hostage by contentious narrow interests, and we urge the Senate to pass, and the President to sign into law, a permanent moratorium on Internet access taxes so that more and more Americans can get online."
The DMA is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned economic-impact study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States are projected to have surpassed $1.7 trillion in 2003, including $133 billion in catalog sales and $41 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is
www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.
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