April 30, 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate has ended months of wrangling with overwhelming approval of a four-year moratorium on taxing Internet access.
The 93-to-3 vote renews a ban that had expired last November.
But senators decided to let states that started taxing Internet access before the ban was imposed six years ago keep imposing those taxes.
State and local governments will also be free to tax the new Internet phone technology known as Voice Over Internet Protocol. It allows consumers to make phone calls over the Internet.
The Senate bill has to be reconciled with a broader House bill. It wants to make the tax ban permanent.
President Bush said the Senate's vote was "an important step" toward making high-speed Internet service more affordable.
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