On February 6, 2025, Rhode Island lawmakers heard testimony about Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee’s proposed Digital Advertising Gross Revenue Tax (“RI Ad Tax”). If enacted, the RI Ad Tax, which is included in Governor McKee’s proposed 2026 budget released last month (HB 5076), would be the second of its kind in the U.S. after Maryland’s digital advertising tax. Maryland’s digital advertising tax has been embroiled in litigation since its enactment and we expect the…
Starting the new year off with legislation aimed directly at the pockets of corporate taxpayers, New York has issued a legislative proposal to nearly cut in half corporate taxpayers’ available GILTI exemptions, and at the same time almost double the top corporate franchise tax rate. Senate Bill 953 (“SB953”), pre-filed in the state senate on January 8, 2025, has the potential to significantly increase New York franchise tax exposure for corporations doing business in the…
On October 17, 2022, a Maryland state judge in the Circuit Court of Anne Arundel County struck down the state’s Digital Advertising Tax (“Digital Ad Tax”) as violating the Internet Tax Freedom Act (“ITFA”) and the Commerce Clause and First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Comcast of California/Maryland/Pennsylvania/Virginia/West Virginia LLC, et al. v. Comptroller of the Treasury of Maryland, Case No. C-02-CV-21-000509 (Md. Cir. Ct. Anne Arundel Cnty.). The judge issued her ruling from the…
On March 4, 2022, a federal judge ruled that the federal Tax Injunction Act (“TIA”) bars a challenge to Maryland’s Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax (“Digital Ad Tax”) from proceeding in federal district court, but does not bar the plaintiffs from challenging Maryland’s prohibition on passing the tax to a customer “by means of a separate fee, surcharge, or line-item” (the “Pass-Through Prohibition”). Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Franchot, No.…