The U.S. Senate approved on Thursday a legislation to permanently ban state and local governments from taxing access to the Internet. The Congress voted 75 - 20 to give final pass to the bill which would also revamp trade laws. The measure is heading to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.
Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican Senator, brokered an agreement with a Democratic leader to help the bill passage.
"The Internet is a resource used daily by Americans of all ages," said McConnell. The Senator said that it is important for Americans to be able to access Internet without worry of being taxed, Associated Press reports.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said in a statement that under the passed bill, most Americans will never have to pay taxes just to get online. Wyden said that the Internet users will also never have to pay more taxes for goods and services they bought online, Reuters reports.
The Congressional Research Service sugests that seven states including New Mexico, Hawaii, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin have been collecting a combined $563 million annually from Internet access taxes.
The measure to ban Internet access tax is supported by 49 Republican and 26 Democratic senators, while 17 Democrats and three Republicans voted "no".
The bipartisan bill was praised by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Ajit Pai, Forbes reports. He said in a statement that the strong bipartisan vote that passed the bill confirms a national consensus that state and local taxes on Internet access should be banned permanently.
Ajit Pai said that the Internet access taxes have made broadband more expensive and reduced consumers' ability and willingness to get Internet access. The commissioner also said he hopes the bill to be enacted soon.
Internet access taxes have been banned by law since 1998. But the prohibition was a moratorium, not a permanent law. The Congress has passed a series of bills temporarily banning state and local government from imposing taxes for online access.
The House finally approved the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act in 2015. The bill amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act to make permanent the ban on state and local taxation of Internet access.
The measure will put an end to a series of temporary extensions on the tax prohibitions. The Congress had extended the temporary prohibition for eight times since 2001.
The bill would also ban taxes on digital goods and services. However, it fails to address calls for better enforcement of state sales tax collections related to Internet purchases.
