Maryland Ad Tax Provision Falls to First Amendment Challenge (2)

Maryland can’t keep businesses from passing on its embattled digital advertising tax to customers, after the Fourth Circuit said Friday that the restriction is unconstitutional.

The US Chamber of Commerce and two tech trade groups asked the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to throw out a trial court ruling that the provision has a “plainly legitimate sweep” that beats out their free speech concerns.

The groups argued that “Maryland has no reason, other than insulating themselves from criticism and political accountability, to forbid them to explain the tax to their customers,” Judge Julius N. Richardson wrote for ...