Comcast and Verizon brought their challenge to Maryland’s one-of-a-kind tax on digital advertising to court prematurely without going through the administrative process first, the state high court ruled Tuesday.
Maryland’s tax of between 2.5% and 10% on the gross revenue from digital ads earned by companies with annual revenue above $100 million was written with tech giants in mind. The state asked the Maryland Supreme Court to overturn a trial court’s sparse October ruling that the novel levy violates the dormant commerce clause, the First Amendment, and the supremacy clause, and is preempted by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act. ...