On February 6, 2025, Rhode Island lawmakers heard testimony about Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKeeâs proposed Digital Advertising Gross Revenue Tax (âRI Ad Taxâ).  If enacted, the RI Ad Tax, which is included in Governor McKeeâs proposed 2026 budget released last month (HB 5076), would be the second of its kind in the U.S. after Marylandâs digital advertising tax. Marylandâs digital advertising tax has been embroiled in litigation since its enactment and we expect the…
On October 17, 2022, a Maryland state judge in the Circuit Court of Anne Arundel County struck down the stateâs Digital Advertising Tax (âDigital Ad Taxâ) as violating the Internet Tax Freedom Act (âITFAâ) 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…
Connecticut legislative leaders recently announced support for a digital advertising tax (âConnecticut Digital Advertising Taxâ) proposed by the Connecticut Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding (the âFinance Committeeâ). Connecticut joins Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas, among others, as states with concrete digital advertising tax proposals on the table (and in Marylandâs case, an enacted law).
State legislators in the Massachusetts House of Representatives recently introduced four bills on the taxation of digital advertising services. Two of these bills propose a tax on digital advertising services, a third bill would set up a âspecial commissionâ to study how to generate revenue from digital advertising, and a fourth bill appears to be a placeholder for some action on digital advertising taxation. This makes Massachusetts one of the latest states to join the wave of state digital advertising tax proposals targeting large digital advertising service providers. We have previously covered Marylandâs digital advertising tax, the first in the nation to become law, and various other statesâ pending digital and data tax proposals, including New York and Texas. Below, we summarize and compare the various Massachusetts proposals.