Maryland’s highest court upheld a new tax on digital advertising that’s intended to fund a significant portion of an ambitious public school improvement program.

The state was believed to be the first in the nation to levy a tax on digital ads in 2020, which quickly ran into opposition from tech companies, who said it was a punitive tax on big firms. Then-Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed the tax that year, calling it “misguided,” only to have the veto overturned by the Democratic-majority General Assembly in 2021.

The tax would apply to companies based on the amount of money they make from digital ads shown to Maryland consumers, ranging from 2.5% to 10%. The tax would only be paid by companies making at least $100 million per year globally from digital ads, such as Google and Facebook. They’d only pay taxes on their share of advertising within Maryland.

The story continues at The Baltimore Banner: Maryland's highest court upholds tax on digital ads

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