Federal judge sides with Maryland in digital ad tax dispute; state challenge remains pending

A federal judge has sided with Maryland in a dispute over the state’s digital advertising tax, dismissing a claim filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and three trade associations arguing that the tax violates First Amendment rights to free speech. The decision, issued Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby, found that language included in the tax’s “pass-through prohibition,” which bars digital advertising companies from passing along the tax as a “fee, surcharge or line-item,” does partially restrict the speech of the companies.