Over 70 million U.S. adults log on to access the Internet during a typical day. As public use of the Internet grew from the mid-1990s onward, Internet access became a potential target for state & local taxation. In 1998, Congress imposed a moratorium temporarily preventing state & local governments from imposing new taxes on Internet access. This report determines the scope of the moratorium & its impact, if any, on state & local revenues. It reviewed the moratorium's language, its legislative history, & associated legal issues; examined studies of revenue impact; interviewed people knowledgeable about access services; & collected info. about 8 case study states not intended to be representative of other states. Charts & tables.

According to one report, at the end of 2004, some 70 million U.S. adults logged on to access the Internet during a typical day. As public use of the Internet grew from the mid-1990s onward, Internet access became a potential target for state and local taxation. In 1998, Congress imposed a moratorium temporarily preventing state and local governments from imposing new taxes on Internet access. Existing state and local taxes were grandfathered. In amending the moratorium in 2004, Congress required GAO to study its impact on state and local government revenues. This report's objectives are to determine the scope of the moratorium and its impact, if any, on state and local revenues. For this report, GAO reviewed the moratorium's language, its legislative history, and associated legal issues; examined studies of revenue impact; interviewed people knowledgeable about access services; and collected information about eight case study states not intended to be representative of other states. GAO chose the states considering such factors as whether they had taxes grandfathered for different forms

Describes proposals to to reduce the size of the Federal tax gap by curtaling tax shelters, closing unintended loopholes, addressing other areas of noncompliance with current tax law, and reforming certain areas of tax expenditures.