On May 20, Washington state enacted SB 5814, expanding the sales and use tax base to include a range of high-tech and digital services, including advertising, software, and IT support. Signed into law by Governor Bob...more
On May 20, 2025, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 5814, a sweeping tax bill that expands Washington’s retail sales and use tax to digital advertising services and a range of high-tech and IT...more
On April 27, 2025, the Washington Legislature delivered to Governor Bob Ferguson’s desk Senate Bill (SB) 5814, a sweeping tax bill that, among other changes, would expand the state’s retail sales and use tax to sales of...more
The New Orleans Collector of Revenue (“Collector”) failed in its attempts to subject music streaming services to the City’s sales tax. In Apple, Inc. v. Collector of Revenue of the City of New Orleans et. al., Docket No....more
Discover the latest global developments and planning opportunities to stay ahead of the curve at McDermott’s Tax Symposium 2024. Join us in Chicago for a full day of programming designed to equip corporate tax leaders with...more
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen’s ambitious plan to provide $2 billion in property tax relief via an increase in the sales tax rate and an expansion of the sales tax base is stirring significant debate. Part of his proposal is...more
By Geoffrey L. Gunnerson and Tony Caldwell The Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, affirmed lower Arizona court rulings that sales of leased software in Arizona constitutes a sale of tangible personal property (TPP),...more
An administrative law judge with the New York State Division of Tax Appeals held that the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) preempted the imposition of New York franchise tax and a metropolitan transportation business...more
Last fall, when a Maryland County Circuit Court held that the Maryland Digital Ad Tax violated the dormant commerce clause, the supremacy clause, the Internet Tax Freedom Act, and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,...more
The saga continues over Maryland’s Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax (Digital Ad Tax), much to the chagrin of Peter Franchot, Comptroller of Maryland, who is tasked with administering and enforcing the tax and has...more
Maryland’s controversial Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax (the “Digital Ad Tax”) recently shot back to the top of the headlines when Maryland Circuit Court Judge, Alison Asti, ruled from the bench that the tax is...more
A Maryland state court struck down the state’s Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax (“Digital Ad Tax”) as invalid under both the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act (“ITFA”) and U.S. Constitution....more
The Illinois Municipal League (IML) represents the interests of 219 home rule municipalities in Illinois. The IML recently released a revised draft model, “Municipal Streaming Tax Ordinance,” (the model) for use by the home...more
In 2017, Saadia Madsbjerg, Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, reflected on the billions of dollars in economic value generated each year from corporations buying and selling consumer personal data, and posited...more
On February 12, 2021, overriding the Governor’s veto, Maryland enacted a first-of-its-kind tax “Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax” that has already sent shockwaves through the industry....more
Yesterday, McDermott Will & Emery filed suit in Maryland federal court on behalf of a number of leading trade associations against Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, challenging the state’s recently enacted 10% gross...more
Last Friday, the Maryland General Assembly voted to override last year's veto of the digital advertising tax (H.B. 732). The Assembly has also introduced legislation to prevent taxpayers from overtly passing on the tax to...more
General Assembly Veto Override - On February 12, 2021, the Maryland General Assembly overrode Governor Larry Hogan’s veto of HB 732 (2020) (the Act), a bill enacting a first-of-its-kind digital advertising services tax on...more
On September 4, 2020, in New Cingular Wireless PCS LLC v. Commissioner of Revenue, No. 18-P-1317, the Massachusetts Appeals Court held that the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) preempted Massachusetts’ sales tax on New...more
Beginning July 1, 2020, federal law will permanently prohibit state sales tax on internet access services under the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA). Although Ohio was amongst seven states previously exempt from the federal...more
With gatherings larger than 50 people banned and the State House cleared of visitors, on March 18, 2020, Maryland’s legislature approved HB 732, which contains a massive new punitive tax on digital advertising services, and...more
On January 29, 2020, the Maryland State Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 2, which would create the Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax. The tax would be imposed on a taxpayer’s Maryland...more
On January 21, A. 9112 was introduced in the New York Assembly. An identical Senate companion bill, S. 6102, has been referred to the Senate Budget & Revenues Committee after being introduced in May 2019. The bills would...more
On January 16, a bill (H. 756) was introduced in the Vermont Assembly that would repeal the sales and use tax exemption for remotely accessed prewritten computer software. If enacted as introduced, the exemption would no...more
The Washington Court of Appeals held that Gartner, Inc.’s online research service was a digital automated service subject to the state’s retail sales tax and retailing Business and Occupation (B&O) Tax. ...more