Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Taxing Internet Commerce

Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Taxing Internet Commerce

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Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Taxing Internet Commerce

dc.contributor.author	Zittrain, Jonathan L.
dc.date.accessioned	2012-10-05T19:28:36Z
dc.date.issued	1999
dc.identifier.citation	Austan Goolsbee & Jonathan Zittrain, 52 Nat'l Tax J. 413 (1999).	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0028-0283	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:9696321
dc.description.abstract	Current tax law--and the current technical architecture of the Internet--make it difficult to enforce sales taxes on most Internet commerce. This has generated considerable policy debate. In this paper, we analyze the costs and benefits of enforcing such taxes including revenue losses, competition with retail, externalities, distribution, and compliance costs. The results suggest that the costs of not enforcing taxes are quite modest and will remain so for several years. At the same time, compliance costs are also likely to be low as Internet infrastructure evolves to make enforcement easier, and states coordinate to harmonize their statutes. There are benefits to nurturing/subsidizing the Internet but they tend to diminish over time. When tax costs and benefits take this form, a moratorium provides a natural compromise.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.publisher	National Tax Association	en_US
dc.relation.isversionof	http://ntj.tax.org/wwtax/ntjrec.nsf/009a9a91c225e83d852567ed006212d8/d6450204906ce52185256afc007f12b0?OpenDocument	en_US
dc.relation.hasversion	http://papers.ssrn.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=174097	en_US
dc.relation.hasversion	http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publications/1999/Evaluating_the_Costs_and_Benefits_of_Taxing_Internet_Commerce	en_US
dash.license	OAP
dc.title	Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Taxing Internet Commerce	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article	en_US
dc.relation.journal	National Tax Journal	en_US
dash.depositing.author	Zittrain, Jonathan L.
dc.date.available	2012-10-05T19:28:36Z