Many states, including West Virginia, Washington, Oregon, Indiana, Montana, Nebraska, Illinois, Louisiana, Connecticut, Oklahoma, Maryland, New York, as well as Washington, D.C., have attempted to impose various forms of an ad tax that would be devastating to broadcasters and local economies. State broadcast associations, often with broader advertising coalitions, have been largely successful in their efforts to beat back harmful tax initiatives, but similar and even repeated attempts have begun to proliferate across the country. This toolkit has been developed to suggest and help guide local campaigns to defeat ad taxes, should they be necessary.
The National Alliance of State Broadcast Associations (NASBA) has numerous resources available to educate state and local lawmakers on the harms of an ad tax and defeat it. Your state association can work hand-in-hand with NAB to execute a strategy for success.
It is important to remain vigilant for any ad tax-related activity in your state and local governments. Be aware that keywords like Digital Products Tax and their Direct Use and Sales Tax Exemptions for Communication can impact broadcasters, given how broadcasters' digital business has grown.
If you believe your state or local government may be considering a tax on advertising, reach out to your state broadcaster association immediately.
We suggest you secure a website domain name such as NoAdTax(state name) now so that it is ready if and when you need it. You may also work with NAB to utilize BAADTax.org – a site used by the coalition group Businesses Against the Ad Tax to educate listeners and viewers on the issue and encourage them to take action.
Your website should include functionality that allows people to send messages (such as emails and social media posts) directly to state and local policymakers, expressing opposition to the ad tax using consistent language. Click here for an example.
Urge use of that messaging tool by as broad a group of people as possible, including:
Beyond broadcast allies (your state broadcaster association, NAB, radio and television stations in your state), reach out to those that would be impacted by an ad tax. Talk to major advertisers and agencies, local businesses reliant on advertising – car dealerships, restaurants and retailers – that would incur cost increases, cable and satellite operators, local newspapers, etc. An ad tax has far reaching implications and you want as many groups raising the alarm as possible.
Provide a draft letter that these entities can send to legislators and make available to the public. Urge prominent business leaders and former legislators to contact legislators on your behalf, as well as submit op-eds and letters to the editor drawing attention to the harm an ad tax brings to consumers, small businesses and local media.
The facts are on your side – a tax on advertising kills local jobs, makes it harder for small businesses to reach their customers and impacts local station revenue that is used to invest in the community.
Reach out to allies who can help provide state specific data on the impact of an ad tax to help aid in your fight:
There are talking points, sample letters, spots and many additional tools at your disposal that are available through NASBA and NAB. Click the links below to access materials from a D.C. case study.
Produce specific radio and television spots and ask all stations throughout the state to put them on the air immediately to drive awareness of how an ad tax threatens jobs, impacts consumers and local businesses and hurts local media.
In the spot, ask listeners and viewers to visit your website to send messages to policymakers opposing an ad tax. Don't forget to have each station file appropriate political advertising paperwork. Click the following links for spot samples: Radio Spot | Television Spot
Don't forget to include digital ads on your website and share information with your social media followers urging them to take action. You should also ask local newspapers to run ads in print and on their websites.
While it is important to oppose any legislation that would impose taxes on advertising of any kind, it is ultimately most important to ensure that broadcasters are not subject to additional taxes on advertising. As a result, it may become necessary to educate lawmakers about the differences between broadcasters and other affected businesses, such as the large online platforms like Google and Facebook, that have recently become the target of actions initiated by federal, state and local governments, both in the United States and abroad.
In Maryland, for example, despite strong opposition from a broad coalition of business including broadcasters, a first-ever digital ad tax was recently imposed. When it became clear that efforts to defeat the tax would be unsuccessful, broadcast and print journalists in the state made the case to state legislators that they should be exempt from the new tax. Maryland legislative leaders indicated willingness to exempt broadcasters and other journalists from this tax, admitting that it was only intended to extract revenue from the large online platforms such as Google and Facebook.
Access the members-only section that contains talking points, issue briefs and additional tools to help you advocate on legislative issues that matter most to broadcasters.
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