IA Letter Slams Proposed DC 'Data Tax'

US trade body the Insights Association (IA) is urging the District of Columbia to reject a proposal described as putting a tax on consumer data.

Three years ago the DC City Council proposed an advertising and data tax which would have penalised MR practitioners of all sizes, including nonprofits - it backed down from the proposal but the IA says the current 'SE1' draft before the DC Tax Revision Committee 'would have the same catastrophic impacts'.

In a letter at the beginning of the week to the DC Tax Revision Commission, drawn up by the association's lobbyist Howard Fienberg (pictured), the IA underlined the insights and data industry's 'strong opposition' to a proposal for consumer data excise taxes in the District of Columbia and urged commissioners to either reject the proposal as a whole or provide a 'carve out' - an exemption - for market research.

The association stated: 'Consumer data excise taxes are severely misguided. Rather than primarily targeting 'big tech' companies, they would primarily hurt most small businesses that operate in the District'. Among the knock-on effects of this, the IA says the proposed law would 'neuter the District's voice in the development of products, services and ideas... [and] increase the cost of planning and decision-making, disincentivizing the insights essential to economic growth and bouncing back from crises'.

The letter can be found here, and the IA home page at www.insightsassociation.org .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.