Net Shopping is Fun and No New Taxes. Internet shopping
Ray Van Eng (02/19/97)
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A recent NFO Research (Greenwich, CT) study on Internet shopping behaviors shows that 25% of online shoppers spent more than $250, about another 25% spent between $100 and $250; with most of the rest spending under $100. Popular items purchased include PC software/hardware, books, music CDs, clothes, airline tickets, consumer electronics etc. 89% of the people reported that they were satisfied with their online purchases. 36% indicated they will cut back on shopping at retail stores and almost half (48%) said they will reduce catalog shopping activities. What some consumers are saying:  --
"The Web provides the ability to comparison shop among several retailers
for the best price." 51% said that they will "probably or definitely" buy online in 1997 with another 27% think that they "might do so." The survey included 271 individuals; 65% male, 35% female and the median age is 40. Globally, Internet shopping is making many governments very nervous. They fear that the Internet could pose a serious threat to their tax revenues, including local, customs and excise taxes. Those with markets to protect want to make online commerce across national borders an expensive or burdensome affair. There are already talks among some nations to impose special taxes or local value added taxes on electronic sales of goods and services done inside their territories. Countries such as Australia, Italy, and Begium even want to extract toll charges for any Internet traffic that made its way through their home turf. Recently Ira Magaziner, a senior advisor to President Clinton said, "If we get the right kind of environment in place, we can accelerate this growth so that in a 5 to 10 year time frame, trade across the Internet will actually be more than any other category of trade. If we do it wrong, we could spend 30 to 40 years trying to undo bad policy." The Clinton Administration last month proposed a global e-commerce framework, in which the United States motioned other governments to make the Internet a duty-free and tax free zone with a minimal of government intervention. A draft policy is available at http://www.iitf.nist.gov/eleccomm/exec_sum.htm. |
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