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Tech group urges committee to oppose proposed digital-ad taxes, delivery fee proposals
Summary
Chamber of Progress told the Joint Committee on Revenue that six digital-ad tax proposals and a proposed 35¢ delivery tax would harm small businesses, threaten free online services and introduce privacy risks; the witness summarized differing bill structures and urged the committee to oppose them.
Aidan Scass, policy manager at Chamber of Progress, testified that the package of proposed digital-ad taxes (H.3089, H.3126, H.3224, H.3263; Senate S.2004 and S.2017) and a delivery-tax proposal (H.3217) should be opposed. Scass said the bills "share a common flaw" and argued the measures would "harm small businesses, undermine free online services, introduce serious privacy risks, and make Massachusetts an outlier in the digital economy."
Scass summarized the range of rate structures among the proposals: some bills would impose a 5% tax on digital-ad revenue for companies with more than $25 million in annual revenue (H.3089 / S.2004), others proposed a 6.25% tax with limited initial exemptions (H.3126 / H.3224), and still others would adopt tiered rates of roughly 5%–15% based on total advertising revenue (H.3263 / S.2017). On the delivery tax, Scass asked the committee to oppose H.3217, which would impose a 35¢ charge on every food and retail delivery order.
The witness argued digital-ad taxes risked raising costs for small advertisers and could weaken the ad-supported business model that underpins many free online services. Scass also noted that other jurisdictions had pushed back on delivery taxes for their regressive impacts on consumers and small restaurants.
The transcript records testimony and committee questions but no formal committee action or votes.
