Maryland’s first-of-its-kind state levy on digital advertising is not a tax and thus a lawsuit against it isn’t prevented by the legal buffer between state and federal courts, the attorneys suing to overturn it argue.
In a supplemental brief filed Dec. 13, attorneys for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Internet Association, NetChoice, and Computer and Communications Industry Association told the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland that the state’s Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax is “a punitive fee,” rather than a tax. The law, passed earlier this year by the state Legislature, imposes a tax of up ...