Satellite Companies Praise Axing of Ohio Tax

Judge: Tax Discriminatory as It Doesn’t Apply to Other Multichannel-Video Providers

Satellite companies applauded a decision by an Ohio judge throwing out a satellite-TV tax levied by that state's general assembly.

According to the companies, the judge ruled that the sales tax on satellite TV was discriminatory because it did not apply to other multichannel-video providers.

In a joint statement, the companies said they applauded the ruling by Judge Daniel Hogan that "a discriminatory sales tax on satellite-TV subscribers violates the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause.”

The satellite companies took the opportunity to plug the State Video Tax Fairness Act, which was introduced three weeks ago in the House by, among others, Judiciary chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.).

The act would essentially codify the judge's decision in statute by expressly prohibiting any state from imposing "a discriminatory tax on any means of providing multichannel-video programming-distribution services, including Internet protocol (or any successor protocol), direct-broadcast satellite delivery and cable-television services."

Translation: A state could not charge a tax on satellite that it did not charge on cable, telco or other equivalent multichannel-video services.