On March 30, TEI filed an amicus brief in Comcast v. Maryland, which is pending before the Maryland Supreme Court. The fundamental substantive issue in this case is whether the Maryland Digital Advertising Tax (DAT)—which was enacted in 2019—is constitutional. Rather than focus on the substantive issue, the TEI brief focused on Maryland’s important exception to administrative exhaustion that allows taxpayers and administrators to ask a court to issue a declaratory judgment on the constitutionality of a tax rather than getting mired in the lengthy administrative process. That exception is particularly useful when addressing a novel tax like the DAT, which has a number of potential constitutional infirmities. The TEI brief underscored the numerous policy reasons for the exception and highlighted a few other jurisdictions where the exception is a vital piece of sound tax administration. TEI’s brief was prepared under the aegis of its State & Local Tax Committee, chaired by Natalie Friedman. Todd Lard, TEI tax counsel, coordinated the preparation of the Institute’s brief. Read the brief here.
