SBE Council Lauds Passage of Wireless Tax Fairness Act

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) lauded the voice vote passage of the Wireless Tax Fairness Act (H.R. 1002) in the U.S. House of Representatives late on Tuesday, November 1.

The Wireless Tax Fairness Act would prohibit any level of government from imposing new discriminatory taxes on wireless goods and services for five years.

SBE Council President and CEO Karen Kerrigan said, "Unfortunately, state and local governments have turned to wireless services and devices as sources of increased revenue, with little consideration of the economic and business implications. These taxes reach far beyond the levels of taxation applied to other goods and services. In fact, based on an analysis by Scott Mackey, an economist and partner at KSE Partners LLP, the average state-local wireless tax rate was 55% higher than the average general sales tax rate."

SBE Council chief economist Raymond J. Keating added, "High taxes on wireless services obviously raise costs for the entrepreneurs and small businesses who have benefited so enormously from the expansion, innovation and declining costs of wireless services."

Kerrigan concluded, "On behalf of the entrepreneurial sector of our economy, I hope that the Senate will move quickly and follow the House's lead on this important issue."