digital advertising tax

Subscribe to digital advertising tax via RSS

We have recently learned from taxpayers that filed refund claims of the Maryland Digital Advertising Tax (DAT) that the Maryland Comptroller is issuing responses entitled “Request Received Does Not Constitute a Refund Claim.”  The Comptroller’s notices state that it rejects refund claims if they do not “disclose[ ] sufficient information about the taxpayer’s annual gross…

The Maryland Comptroller issued an interpretation of the Maryland Digital Advertising Tax (DAT) that excludes certain digital advertising from the DAT. A Maryland regulation – COMAR 03.12.01.01 – limits taxable “digital advertising services” to those “advertising services on a digital interface that are: (i) Programmatic; and (ii) Visually conveyed.” Thus, receipts from sales of digital…

The Utah State Legislature is poised to enact a “targeted advertising” tax, the first of its kind in the U.S. This tax is similar to, but distinct from, Maryland’s digital advertising gross revenues tax and Chicago’s social media amusement tax.

The legislation enacting the tax, S.B. 287, has been agreed-upon by both chambers and…

On August 15, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a Maryland statutory provision prohibiting sellers from itemizing the digital advertising tax (DAT) on their invoices violates the First Amendment. As readers are likely aware, the DAT is imposed on gross revenues from digital advertising services in Maryland. After…

Yesterday, the Comptroller of Maryland issued Technical Bulletin No. 59, laying out its position on the Digital Advertising Gross Revenues (ominously abbreviated as “DAGR”) tax base. As the DAGR took effect in January 2022, this guidance is not exactly timely. 

Much of Bulletin No. 59 is devoted to the Comptroller’s view of taxability. A…

On April 1, 2024, the California State Assembly amended a digital advertising tax into A.B. 2829, formerly a property tax bill. As amended, A.B. 2829 would adopt the digital advertising tax effective January 1, 2025. The California proposal is similar to the Maryland Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax, which is currently the subject of…

On September 13, 2023, the D.C. Tax Revision Commission met and evaluated over a dozen tax proposals. Most concerning, the Commission discussed the possibility of implementing a digital advertising tax or a data mining tax.

D.C. Tax Revision Commission

The Council of the District of Columbia established the Commission to comprehensively review the District’s tax…

The Comptroller has informed us that the due date for the first quarterly estimated digital advertising tax payment is extended to Monday, April 18th. The deadline for taxpayers to make this first payment would otherwise have been April 15, 2022. We are not aware of the Maryland Comptroller’s office otherwise publicizing this extension. Taxpayers…

On March 4, 2022, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland partially dismissed a challenge to the Maryland Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax.

  • The plaintiffs asserted that the Tax violates the Internet Tax Freedom Act and the Commerce and Due Process Clauses of the United States Constitution.
  • The federal court held that

…