Bill Clinton calls for e-commerce to pay its taxes

Former US President Bill Clinton said that the technology sector should play a key role in driving economic recovery, but should also pay its taxes.

After having supported rules that exempted online retailers from paying sales tax in the 1990s, Clinton now believes that internet commerce has developed to the point where the rules are no longer an equaliser, but are in fact an unfair advantage over bricks-and-mortar retailers.

"If you want to keep taxes low and want countries to keep competitive tax systems then you have to have some form of consumption tax," he said.

"Do we need to set up a tax system that favours the people who are doing well and burdens those that are struggling?"

Speaking at an Icann conference in San Francisco, Clinton said that throughout the prosperous periods of the 1990s, the IT industry was a key creator of new jobs. He noted that while the IT sector accounted for eight per cent of jobs in the decade, it claimed 30 per cent of the nation's job growth.

"The early 1990s and throughout the decade was a time when IT exploded into every element of life," Clinton said.

Since leaving office, Clinton has turned his focus to running his charitable foundation and pushing for improvements in developing nations.

He suggested that while getting developing nations online can help spur economic growth, infrastructure also needs to be put in place to ensure that technological and educational developments translate into economic growth and improved quality of life.

For developed nations, Clinton sees a challenge in making sure that technological developments can help to generate new jobs. He has also backtracked on a policy that many credit with helping to foster the birth of online commerce.