Internet Taxation Essay -- Internet Tax Taxing Essays

Internet Taxation The passage of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, on October 21, 1998 there has been an intense debate on whether to tax or not to tax Internet purchases. The conservative side is opposed to Internet taxation saying that it is too costly to collect tax on Internet purchases. They also believe that since Internet retailers do not have any of their operations in all the states, not every state should receive the sales tax made on the purchase. On the other hand, the liberal believe that taxation of the Internet should be lawful because states are losing valuable tax bases to Internet purchases. They believe that at current rates of online shopping, states are losing millions of dollars annually that are used for public roads, police protection, and education. Both sides of the Internet taxation argument use logos and ethos appeals. Logos appeals are the main form of argument for both sides. Plenty of examples and statistics are used to support the logos argument. Ethos appeals are not as prevalent as logos, but are enter strung throughout the articles to support both sides. Pathos appeals are almost non-existent in any articles found, so they are not a main contributing factor in the overall argument on Internet taxation. In the Issues & Controversies section of Clemson Universities Expanded Academic Search the article, â€Å"Internet Taxation,† both the pros and cons concerning Internet taxation are mentioned to establish both views concerning the issue facing the United States people. The conservative or con side on taxes mainly uses logos argument to make their point. Supports of the tax free Internet say that because of the way transactions are carried out on the web, electronic sales are vulnerabl... ...o adopt a unified sales tax for Internet purchases. They are a liberal group for Internet taxation, which recently got shot down with the onset of the extended Internet Tax Freedom Act. The coalition is not currently trying to persuade e-tailers to join their position on Internet taxation. Big names such as Amazon.com have not joined the talks for good reason. Online retailers do not want states to adopt a plan to implement taxes online since it would threaten the tax-free shopping advantage that these online retailers enjoy. Even with the onset of new rulings for a tax-free Internet there has not been a complete loss for the coalitions efforts. In a 1992 Supreme Court ruling states that e-tailers must collect sales tax in the states in which they have a physical presence. All in all efforts for both sides have resulted in a partial tax and tax-free Internet.