WASHINGTON-Two key Senate lawmakers, backed by industry, state and local leaders, said they see no obstacles to passing legislation that would simplify the way mobile phone calls are taxed.
“It is so imminently sensible,” said Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), a Senate Commerce Committee member at last Tuesday’s hearing. Dorgan and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) are sponsoring the bill.
The measure would tax calls at a customer’s residence or business address. Today, mobile phone calls are taxed by multiple jurisdictions, a situation that can cause double taxation and that creates accounting nightmares for carriers and local/state taxing authorities alike.
The bill, introduced last fall, is poised for committee mark-up, though a date has not been set. A companion bill is pending in the House.
