A provision of Maryland’s novel digital advertising tax is unconstitutional, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit held Friday in delivering a win to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and several trade associations whose members would be liable for the tax imposed by the legislation.

In a published opinion authored by Judge Julius Richardson, a three-judge panel for the 4th Circuit ruled a “pass-through” provision of Maryland’s digital ad tax — which prohibits companies from directly passing the tax cost to customers by a separate fee, surcharge or line-item on invoices or telling customers how the tax affects pricing — is a content-based restriction on speech in violation of the First Amendment .

The ruling comes after a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for Maryland j

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