The internet should in no way be monitored and taxed in any way, shape, or form by the US government. For one, the internet is a worldwide connection. Many people in the United States have websites that are not even hosted within the United States. Why the Internal Revenue Service believes it has jurisdiction over a website hosted in Australia is beyond comprehension. Unless United States citizens are forced to use only a “US portion of the internet,” there is no way that the government has the right to tell other countries that they are going to tax websites.
Countries could, if they so decided, work together and collect and split taxes, but this would simply lead to a bureaucratic mess. Trying to tax the internet is like trying to find illegal immigrants and make them pay taxes. The government cannot possibly monitor the billions of websites in existence for taxation. It would also certainly be unfair to pick and choose who to tax. Many websites inside the United States already add a sales tax for purchases made. There is no reason for a double taxation.
Many companies essentially already pay taxes. Wal-Mart.com and Target.com, two of the biggest department stores pay taxes on products they sell. Amazon.com is already taxed as well. So why is there a need for a new tax? The problem with taxing fairly and finding out who to tax, and in what manner, is not conceivable. Our government is already a mess as it is. Trying to track down internet tax evasion is like looking for a needle in a haystack. People regularly register websites with fake names or companies that do not legally exist, and there is no way to prove who they even are.
There are far too many problems with internet taxation. The only way the government could possibly place a fair tax is on internet service providers. But they already pay taxes! So once again we are back to the point of what is out there to tax and in what way. There is no fair way to tax the internet. Users already pay a sales tax for their ISP, which means another tax would once again lead to double taxation.
The government needs to be focused on the economy and raising taxes isn’t the solution. If anything, cutting taxes to allow more consumer spending, is the way to go. Economic sense is not in the minds of those in Washington. All they see is the need for more of the almighty dollar because of their own wasteful spending. It would take a multitude of new bureaucratic agencies to monitor and tax the internet, possibly to the point where the taxes don’t even cover the expenses of these government entities.
So no, the internet should not be monitored and taxed. It is understandable to tax online retailers, but it stops there. Adding any other tax would be unfair as people find ways to easily avoid paying the tax. A company can easily use a fake alias or just run their business from Europe. In the internet age, your personal online store can be opened with a web host in a foreign country. Why the US government thinks a foreign-owned company will comply with their tax regulations is laughable. The internet is truly the last bastion of freedom in the world that we as a people, have from more regulation and taxation.