Virginia Lawmakers’ Budget Deal Extends Sales Tax to Digital

Virginia lawmakers voted Saturday for a budget that would expand the commonwealth’s sales tax base to cover digital goods like streaming services, including business-to-business transactions for software application services.

The budget was adopted with a 62-37 vote in the state House and a 24-14 vote in the state Senate.

The software provision was included by budget negotiators reaching a compromise between a House-passed budget that limited digital-goods taxation to retail transactions and a Senate budget that included a broader range of business-input sales. The Senate versions drew strong opposition from major business groups such as the Council on State Taxation. ...