As residents and business owners in the state of Maryland, we are not at all pleased with the vote in the recent special session to levy a ‘service tax’ on the Computer Service industry.

Passing this service tax has done nothing but hurt all computer service businesses in the state of Maryland, in particular the small business owners. It will surely send growth and jobs out of the state of Maryland and into our neighbors like Virginia or perhaps even overseas! We urge you to repeal the computer service tax now.

The original list of industries to be taxed did not include the Information Technology (IT) field. If we had known the computer industry was targeted for a service tax, we would have seized the opportunity to voice our opinions AGAINST such legislation. The last minute addition of this tax and its subsequent approval is difficult to fathom at best, especially since other “big money” industries were originally scheduled for tax inclusion and ultimately stricken from the bill.

As elected leaders, we feel your job is to govern our State in the best interest of its citizens. This is a time when many communities are trying to increase economic growth that naturally and demonstratively accompanies technological business expansion. We are concerned that passing this service tax seems to have been done without any regard to the consequences of stunted and/or negative economic growth. Surely you see the computer service tax will discourage IT-related companies from locating anywhere in the state of Maryland, and undercuts existing companies’ ability to compete with the overall job pricing in neighboring areas.

We understand the need for good tax policy in the state of Maryland and support those initiatives, when they make sense. As our delegation voted in support of removing the language for the tax, we hope that you will use your considerable influence and abilities to remove this deleterious event. Tax policy should be informed, fair and serve the best interest of the citizens. It is critical that you correct this glaring oversight and repeal the computer service tax now.