Governor Wes Moore took office declaring his intent to “leave no one behind.” Two years into his tenure, Governor Moore is now pushing a regressive tax on online deliveries that would leave Maryland’s most vulnerable residents in the dust.
Marylanders are already bracing for price hikes as new tariffs threaten to spike the price of everyday essentials. Just as households are dealing with high prices in grocery aisles and at the gas pump, Governor Moore wants to tack on a 75-cent tax to most online purchases.
The governor is pitching this tax as a way to fund transportation projects amid declining gas tax revenues. In reality, a delivery tax would hit the most vulnerable Marylanders hardest – all just to make a negligible dent in the budget deficit.
Policymakers should have learned this lesson after last year’s failed attempt to pass a 50-cent delivery tax. Instead, they’re back with an even more radical proposal despite widespread opposition from voters.
There’s no way around it: delivery taxes are inherently regressive. They hurt working families by eating up a larger share of their income – while wealthy families might barely register the added fees. They disproportionately impact older people and mobility-challenged individuals who rely disproportionately on the delivery of essential goods.
There’s also an environmental toll. By disincentivizing online orders, delivery taxes can end up causing more traffic, higher emissions, and higher gas costs for consumers and workers. Imagine if instead of one UPS truck delivering 200 purchases, there were 200 additional cars on the road making individual trips to the store. Research from my organization, the Chamber of Progress, found that e-commerce delivery is more than twice as efficient as individual car trips.
With higher taxes, consumers cut back on consumption. This creates a damaging ripple effect across the economy, and small businesses fare the worst when demand falls. By incentivizing consumers to shop at brick-and-mortar stores, delivery taxes would make it harder for Maryland’s small, online businesses to compete.
Just look at the fallout in Colorado and Minnesota, the only two states that have implemented similar taxes. Colorado’s rollout of its 27-cent tax was so disastrous for local businesses that legislators had to simplify the law to help companies comply. Minnesota’s 50-cent tax is facing a repeal effort in the state legislature after sparking backlash from businesses and consumers.
After seeing how delivery taxes have played out elsewhere, it’s puzzling to see Maryland consider a whopping 75-cent tax, the highest we’ve seen yet.
At a time when Marylanders are already worried about rising costs, state leaders should be looking for ways to ease financial burdens, not add to them. Instead of hurting the people who can least afford it with a regressive new tax, Maryland should look elsewhere for sustainable solutions to address budget shortfalls.
A tax hike on everyday deliveries is a pothole Maryland doesn’t need – and lawmakers should slam the brakes before it’s too late.
Brianna January, MPP, is Northeast State & Local Government Relations Director at the Chamber of Progress. Brianna was formerly the Associate Policy Director at the Maryland Association of Counties, where she represented Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City before the Maryland State General Assembly. Before that, she served as a legislative staffer for Maryland Delegate Kirill Reznik (D).
I, like many of my fellow Marylanders, live on a fixed income, am too old, too sick to seek employment. I rely on deliveries from Amazon for my zillion vitamins, walkers, wheelchair, CPAP supplies, and so much more. I have committed to dealing with the food price hikes, avoiding eggs and using 1/2 of the meat called for in recipes. I watch my mileage, combining as many trips as possible, while praying that there will be parking spaces close to the building. When I can only get a parking spaces not close a distance or uphill, I have to go home. My wheelchair isn’t electric and I can’t use a walker for much of a walk. I am able to pay mt property and income taxes but there seems to be another increase every time I turn around. Please fight these increases.