WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate has given its stamp of approval to a seven-year extension of the moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet access.

“This is good news for consumers and good news for businesses,” U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said in a statement tonight. Reed also supported the last extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which was signed into law in 2004.

“The Internet tax moratorium has been effective for nine years, supplying consumers with tax-free access to the Internet. Extending this tax ban for another seven years makes sense, and I hope our colleagues in the House will join us in approving this longer extension.”

The Senate bill was unanimously approved in a voice vote last night. A separate measure calling for a four-year moratorium was approved earlier this month by the House of Representatives.

The House and Senate still must reconcile the differences in conference and approve a unified bill before it can be sent to the president and signed into law. Without the extension, the Internet tax ban would expire Nov. 1.