House votes to extend moratorium on Internet taxes

WASHINGTON — The House has voted to make permanent a moratorium that prevents state and local governments from taxing access to the Internet. Under current law, the moratorium expires Nov. 1, exposing Internet users to the same kind of connection fees that often show up on telephone bills. The moratorium was first enacted in 1998. State and local governments that already had Internet taxes were allowed to keep them under the current moratorium. But under the bill passed Tuesday, those jurisdictions would no longer be able to collect the taxes. The House passed the bill Tuesday by voice vote, which means members did not record whether they were in favor or against the bill.