No Tax Refund for Clear Channel, Maryland Appeals Court Rules

A Baltimore tax on billboards that was challenged by Clear Channel does not violate a right to free speech and the company doesn’t deserve a tax refund, the Appeals Court of Maryland has ruled.

Clear Channel Outdoor LLC, the billboard advertising company, had argued that the tax violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. It had sought a refund for an excise tax on outdoor advertising levied by Baltimore in 2013.

But like the state’s Tax Court, the Circuit Court of Baltimore City and the Court of ...