In an online interview, President Clinton did not rule out backing state or local taxes on Internet sales, saying only that he would support a current process to "resolve" how those taxes could be collected in "not too burdensome" ways. This een as the President told CNN he opposes any taxes on consumers gaining Net access.
"I don't think there should be any access or any other kind of discriminatory taxes, from my point of view, ever, on the Internet," the President said in an online interview with CNN Feb. 14. But regarding state or local Net taxes - which have become a hot-button issue in recent months - Clinton noted only that governors were "working on a solution" to the question.
"And I'm trying to support the process that now exists to resolve the issue of how state taxes, sales taxes, can best be collected in a way that is not too burdensome," Clinton said.
Several state and local governments have complained that the Net's untaxed sales means they "lose" tax revenues rung up at the cash register, says Reuters.
"You don't want to burden the Internet," Clinton told the CNN online interview, "but you don't want to put people who aren't making sales on it out of business. And we've got to find that right balance and that's what we're working on," he said.
