On March 11, 2021, the Florida House Ways and Means Committee approved H.B. 15. This bill and its Senate companion, S.B. 50, which was previously approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, would require sales tax collection from a person whose remote sales to Florida exceed $100,000 per year and would require a “marketplace
Digital Economy
Maryland Comptroller issues guidance regarding digital products and software taxation
The Maryland Comptroller of Public Accounts issued guidance interpreting 2020 H.B. 932, entitled the 21st-Century Economy Fairness Act. Effective March 14, 2021, the act expanded the sales and use tax to sales and uses of digital products. Pursuant to its guidance, the Comptroller will apply tax to a variety of digital products – including e-books,…
Bless your heart: Texas Considers Maryland-Style Digital Advertising Tax and Broad-based Service Tax proposals
Immediately before last Friday’s deadline for the filing of unrestricted bills, Texas lawmakers introduced a digital advertising tax bill and a bill that would expand sales tax to a wide array of services.
H.B. 4467, filed on March 12 by Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-TX-116) would impose a tax on gross revenue from digital…
Ides of March: Maryland lawmakers propose tax whistleblower program
A pair of recently-introduced Maryland bills would create a whistleblower program within the Maryland Comptroller’s office and possibly result in a headache for many taxpayers. The proposed whistleblower bills appear to be modeled after the IRS’ whistleblower program, although they contain a noticeably low materiality threshold and allow for the anonymous reporting of complaints.
The…
West Virginia Senate Considers Digital Advertising Tax
A recently-introduced bill in the West Virginia Senate would impose a new tax on companies that provide digital advertising services. SB 605, introduced on March 9 by Senator Rupie Phillips (R-Logan 07), would impose a gross receipts tax on the annual gross revenues of a taxpayer derived from digital advertising services in the state.…
Maryland Digital Advertising Tax Amendment Bill Passes Third Reading; Heads to House of Delegates
Earlier today, the Maryland Senate passed S.B. 787, Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax and Tobacco Tax – Alterations and Implementation, on third reading (46-0). As amended, S.B. 787 makes the following relevant changes to the digital advertising tax:
- Exempts advertisement services on digital interfaces owned or operated by or operated on behalf of
…
Georgia House considers bill to expand sales tax to digital goods
On February 22, 2021, the Georgia House of Representatives introduced H.B. 594, which would impose the Georgia sales tax on digital goods or services. The bill amends the definition of tangible personal property, subject to sales tax, to include “digital goods or services.” It defines digital goods or services to include: (1) specified digital…
New York Senate introduces consumer data tax bill
On February 19, 2021, the New York Senate introduced S4959, which would impose a monthly excise tax on the collection of the consumer data of individual New York consumers by commercial data collectors. The tax rate varies based on the number of New York consumers the commercial data collector collects data on within the…
Massachusetts Legislature introduces digital advertising tax bills
The Massachusetts Legislature has recently introduced a variety of bills that would tax digital advertising. Notably, HD.3210 would establish the Digital Advertising Local Revenues Tax, which would be imposed on the annual gross revenues of a person derived from digital advertising services in Massachusetts. “Digital advertising services” is defined as including “advertisement services on…
Maryland Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax – Potentially Pushed To 2022
Earlier today, in a last minute addition to the Maryland Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee hearing, the committee voted to approve amendments to S.B. 787, Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax – Exemption and Restriction. Most notably, the amendments would delay the start of the digital advertising tax to January 1, 2022.
The other relevant…



