A state plan to tax internet-based services has been scraped.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein has more.
About 20 people representing the telecommunications industry attended a Department of Revenue Administration hearing.
Many had come in opposition to a proposed change to the 1990 Communications Service tax.
That's a tax on all 2-way communications, and all commissioners are supposed to revisit the regulations every eight years.
Things have changes since 1990.
For example voice mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, web mail and voiced over internet protocol all are forms of 2-way communication.
But few in attendance were interested in arguing why the state should tax these services.
Instead, opponents like Carol Miller listed a variety of reasons why the Department should not implement the new rules.
Miller is the president of the New Hampshire Internet Service Providers Association.
T. 4
:42 in order for us to track and charge for services on internet access, we would have to implement sophisticated systems which would be a burden to our company and an intrusion to our customer base.
Miller suggested the tax would be passed on to the consumer, and warned business would leave New Hampshire.
Others predicted Congress will craft legislation that could trump state law.
The Department of Revenue insists it's not instituting any new tax, but just following the Legislature's direction to tax all 2-way communications.
But former State Representative Warren Henderson says there is no way the Legislature intended to tax these services.
3:14 so how could it have been for the legislature's intent to tax these services, when collectively they hadn't even heard of these services, or the technologies, or the technical applications on which they are based?
Attorney Doug Patch, representing the New Hampshire Association of Internet Service Providers agrees with Henderson.
He does, however, concedes, a reasonable person could make a reasonable argument that some of the internet services fall into the 2-way communication category, but that isn't the point.
8:45... our whole point is to think about this very carefully and do it in the legislature, not the state department that is implementing a law from 1990, that arguably was never intended to apply to services like this.
Patch says in the past few years the Legislature has made it clear, that, as an industry, the internet should be encouraged.
He points out lawmakers have also established a committee that is considering some of these very issues.
He believes that is the appropriate place to hold such sweeping public policy debates.
At the end of the Department of Revenue hearing, assistant to the Commissioner Val Berghaus helped make Patch's wish a reality.
:56 given what I've heard today, and early polling on the commissioner, I believe that is the proper course to take. And these particular parts of the rule 1601, 16c and d, and the part of the rule....160204 d- 12-15 recommend they be excised to the rules going forward.
In other words, Berghaus is saying all the controversial elements to the plan will be sent to a Legislative Committee...for study.
That group is expected to meet August 4th.
For NHPR News, I'm DG.
