With more and more Americans growing distrustful of some of the country’s largest tech companies, one portion of the Pennsylvania billionaires tax will have its time on the hill this week.
Hundreds of advocates with the Tax Billionaires, Fund Pa coalition—which is made up of progressive organizations, immigrant rights groups, voting rights groups and labor unions—marched throughout the Pennsylvania capitol on Monday calling for the passage of the Digital Advertising Tax.
“ If big tech wants to spend record amounts on annoying ass ads that pervade every part of our lives, then we should be able to recoup the taxes they should be paying to fund public services that everyone relies on,” State Rep. John Inglis (D-Allegheny) said at a rally on Monday.
He added, “other states have demonstrated how a tax like this can fairly raise revenue that we need now more than ever. The bottom line is this: our communities support many of these businesses but it’s about time that these corporations start supporting our communities.”
With the global digital advertising set to become a $1.5 trillion industry by 2030, Democrats in the Pennsylvania House believe House Bill 1678 could raise $500 million in revenue by placing a 5% tax on digital ads.
Maryland became the first state in the country to pass a digital advertising tax in 2021, and It has raised roughly $90 million per year, according to the Brookings Institute.
Support for the Tax Billionaires, Fund Pa campaign has been growing among members of the Pennsylvania House and Senate Democratic caucuses with the commonwealth projected to have a $5.6 billion budget deficit.
Advocates also believe revenue from these bills could help offset President Donald Trump’s cuts to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits even though Gov. Josh Shapiro warned the state would not be able to backfill the cuts after Republicans passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. .
More than 50 House Democrats have signed onto the bill since its introduction and the Pennsylvania House Finance Committee is preparing to advance the bill out of committee with a vote on Wednesday.
“It is thanks to organizing that the digital ad tax on Big Tech is scheduled for a vote,” Jeremy Tifa, a member of Make the Road Action PA, said in a statement.
“We see what tech companies are doing to our state: Invading our communities with data centers, driving up our bills, and exploiting our personal information for profit. On Wednesday, we expect lawmakers to recognize that truth, and pass this tax to hold these companies accountable.”
Democrats are also pushing for a tax on passive income, which includes income generated off of stocks or trusts, and closing tax loopholes such as the Delaware Loophole, which allows corporations to file their paperwork in states like Delaware to avoid paying corporate taxes.
”Our commonwealth ranks amongst the most unequal states in the nation, and our tax system is amongst the most regressive, meaning it asks more of working people than it does those living off of wealth,” State Sen. Nikil Saval said.
He added, “and while working people pay taxes every time they earn a paycheck, the wealthiest people in our state who profit from investments or inheritance pay less. That’s not fairness. That’s not responsibility. That’s not freedom for those who labor for all they have, and we know it.”
