DC Eliminates 3% Ad Sales Tax

• The executive team at Urban One, Inc. expressed their thanks for the Washington, D.C. Council’s amendment that effectively eliminated from the Fiscal 2021 budget a proposed 3% advertising tax that would have been added to TV, radio, print and digital advertising purchases. No other state in the nation has this tax.

Urban One joined a consortium of concerned stakeholders and met with D.C. Council members to discuss the catastrophic impact the tax would impose on businesses and consumers who are already reeling from the economic impact of COVID-19.

Alfred Liggins (left), CEO of Urban One, Inc., commented, “We have been partners with the residents of the District for over 40 years and consider ourselves part of the fiber of the city and the DMV. This pandemic has devastated and disrupted all of our lives, and the advertising tax would have been like adding salt in the wound. Thankfully, our representatives were willing to listen and act. I want to thank the Chairman, Councilmembers McDuffie, R. White, Silverman, and T. White for directly engaging with us over the last several days and for this productive outcome. Hopefully, we will not have to repeat this exercise again regarding an advertising tax, which would cause unnecessary harm to the people we all serve.”

Jeff Wilson, Sr. Regional Vice President, Radio One, remarked, “On behalf of the entire broadcast industry and everybody who has any stake in the D.C. economy, I want to express my most profound gratitude to the Chairman and members of the D.C. City Council for their leadership, hard work, courage, and obvious dedication to this great district. It’s magnificent to watch elected officials tirelessly listen, reflect, adapt, and act in the true interest of the people they serve. This is a great day in and for the District of Columbia.”