Taxing Internet Sales.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Brief Article

Keep it simple: That's the chief recommendation stemming from a recent survey of CFOs and corporate tax directors asked about emerging policy on taxing transactions made over the Internet.

A moratorium on Internet-related taxes is currently in place through October 2001, and Congress could extend that to 2006, as recommended by an advisory commission that met earlier this year. But to get a sense of the corporate attitude toward Web-related taxes, KPMG surveyed 270 GFOs and tax directors in five industries: banking and finance, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications and transportation.

Asked about their top priority for any national tax policy toward the Web, 40 percent of the respondents mentioned a consistent, simplified e-commerce tax policy, 31 percent cited an extension of the moratorium, and 24 percent argued for a permanent ban on Internet taxes.

The spiraling growth of e-commerce has prompted many executives to question how their companies could properly administer taxes on Internet sales, KPMG found. Two-thirds said it would be difficult to administer; one in four said it would be "very difficult." Executives in transportation, telecommunications and banking and finance expressed the most concern.

Looking at global e-commerce...